What's up guys? Sorry for the long wait. Chapter 6 is finally here!

"The scars that you cannot see,

are the hardest to Heal."

4 days after Leo rescues Tess...

One of the many things that I've never understood about the humans is that they always have somewhere to be. They always have something that they have to do. That something completely takes over their focus and shuts out almost everything else happening around them. The majority of them never stop to look at the trees as they pass by the park or the countless raindrops from their office window, shimmering like tiny diamonds on the glass. Even so, it's the same case when someone is in need. The many humans passing right by either don't take notice, they don't care, or they turn tail and run away in fear. Thus the responsibility for setting a better example, while it may be from the shadows, falls to us protectors of the city. We help those in need when others do not.

I can recall times when I was younger where I enjoyed imitated the brave feats of the heros in the comics that Splinter gave us on our birthday. Being the hero in the games I played with my brothers was always my favorite role. Yet being so young and so naive, it wasn't until Master Splinter declared that I would be the leader of the team that I had the true realization that being the hero was not as easy a task as I had once thought. Eager as I was to take on that position as the leader, I was blind to the burdens, the pressure, and the many sacrifices that came with it. Even more was I blind to the tiresome and most constant contradiction of authority. To my dismay, I found out that being the hero and a leader is not as much an appreciated a position as one might think. When one might deem an action as an act of bravery, another may deem it as an act of foolishness. Such is the occasion when I decide to risk the secrecy of our home for a young girl that desperately needed my help.

I don't regret helping Tess one bit, no matter how much Raph may hate me for it. But why does is bother me so much? Why do I even care? Raph can sulk about it as much as he wants. Tess is different. I just don't know how...yet."

For the first time in a month, I awake with a half-full stomach and without fear of my siblings not being able to last the day. Both of them are still sleeping, Kat and Joven both rolled up in sheet like a large sausage roll. I remember they'll be coming for us any minute now.

I search around under the covers for my journal. Rubbing my eyes so that I can see better, I grab it and sit down as comfortably as possible by the steps by the door for better light.

I can see the bright blue cover with the white flowers blossoming on it. I'm not entirely sure why I still keep it around. I believe when my family and I were first brought here it was just so that I could hold onto memories of my original home and parents. Now it feels like I kept it, even when Kat and Jo's belongings were taken away, because I had hope that I could record what would happen to us in hope that someone would soon find it and rescue us. But I highly doubt that anyone who gives a care will ever discover this terrible nightmare that we're trapped in. Even we, who've been here the longest, know little about where we go and how we get there. Only that we are there to work.

I flip through the pages to find a clean sheet. I stop and look carefully at the half-finished sketch of Leonardo. He's crouched as if he's about to pounce, both swords drawn outwards on either side of him. I darken his skin and when it comes to his eyes, I realize I left them white. Carefully as possible in the dim light, I try my hardest to capture their depth and softness. If only I could get better lighting to see clearly! I turn to the next page to begin.

Dear Diary,

Of all the most unexpected events, meeting the most unlikely of people, or rather a turtle, has to be the biggest surprise. I'm more than sure that I can trust him. I only hope that I can see them soon.

A giant ninja turtle living with his three brothers in the sewers of the city. While it is strange, it's very clever. It's the last place that anyone would find them or think to look for them. His brothers Donatello and Michelangelo seem to be alright with me, but his red-masked brother Raphael is like a puzzle that almost unsolvable. Almost like Kat. I can't seem to figure out what his problem is, but he suspects that I'm part of a street gang organization that call themselves the Purple Dragons. I admit, the term does sound somewhat familiar to me.

However, none have been on mind as much as Leonardo. In fact, he's been the only thing on my mind, besides Kat and Jo, for the past four days. After 34 days of living in the pitch dark, it's just reassuring that I have someone that I'm sure that I can trust.

Of course, I have to be even more careful and can't let it go to my head. Keeping my brother and sister alive is my top priority. Now that I know I have Purple Dragons keeping an eye out for me on the back streets, I've restricted myself to making no attempt of going to the surface unless it's important or we're desperately starving. I already feel guilty for putting his family at risk by being in his home. Still I wish I could seem him again. He's really the only person that I've really been able to relate to since we were brought here, and the only friend I have outside my family.

I hear loud steps a ways up behind the door and I scurry over the others. I stash my journal and the rest of the food under my sheets and close my eyes. Hopefully they don't see the bulging shape under the bed sheets. The door opens.

"Come on slugs! Time to get to work!" Allen kicks me hard in the back, grabs my wrists and hoists me up onto my feet, a coil of chains dangling from his arm. A normal expectation when he comes to fetch us, especially after our failed attempts at escape.

His breath reeks of alcohol as usual, but his eyes are less cloudy and aimless than usual. Which means that he is somewhat in his right mind. All the same, it is still dangerous to challenge or resist him in the very least.

Two more men with chains slung over their arms rouse my siblings from sleep and get them up. When I wobble on my feet, he slaps me hard on the cheek and jostles me over next to Kat as he secures a second pair of shackles to her wrists and ankles.

"Can see you're head's at least a little bit clearer, Allen. You still sure that these are necessary?"

"Ya can never be too careful. Make sure they're good 'n tight on theirs especially, Fives."

When Jo sees the loathful chains in the tall man's hands, he bats them away. "Hold still ya little brat."

"Jo! Jo stop. It's okay. Just listen to him." He stops fighting and looks at me. Fives seizes the opportunity and clasps the chains to Joven shaking wrists.

"Allen, please. Take those off of him."

"And why would I do that?"

"He's just a boy. I'll keep him under control."

He laughs. "Ha. He's not a boy. He's street rat, just like the lot of ya. Whatsmore, ya our property, and ya'll do as ya told.

Fives smirks. "As far as ya little whelps are supposed to know, he's ya father and ya his children."

Allen's gnarled hand fingers a blade, drawing it closer and closer to my sister's throat. "Quite right Fives. And isn't it proverb to honor your father?"

"Enslaving us for a fortune does not make us your children," I growl, "and it sure as heck doesn't make you our father! You may do whatever you want to me, but if you dare hurt them-"

"Ya'll do what? Kick me?" he sneers, removing the blade and tracing the side of my face with it's tip, "Ya so much as think about double-crossing me and I will make their pain as slow and terrible as possible until they can't stand it. They're my charges and I their guardian, and it also means you get to decide how well they get treated. How horrible it must be to have their welfare depend entirely on your good behavior. I'd be very...very careful if I were you." With a scoff, he blindfolds me, drags us up the invisible stairs, and I don't know anything else.

"Look at um' down there Al," says one of the guards, gazing down below from the catwalk at the small figures in the pit of trash heaps. "Working like bugs til' they collapse. Too weak and helpless to even think about trying to escape. Every one of um' picking a fortune's worth of tech for each of us."

"Never ceases to amaze me Jake. They're easily molded into hard workers. Their spirits are so easily broken until they have no choice but to serve the strong. Not true for the Filimons' though. They've lasted longer than anyone."

"That's 'cause they're Andrew's brats. And the boss says they stay here until he says it's time. They're more trouble than they're worth"

"No matter. However much trouble they may be, there's more steel in them than there is bone. You underestimate their spirit, especially the oldest."

"Sir? Sir!" A small man with notebook in his hands runs across the adjoining catwalk.

"What do you want Edge? You're supposed to be coordinating the initiates at the Nest."

"Apologies sir, but we've run extremely short of the promised pot for this week's match."

"What do we look like, bankers with a vault full of cash?"

"I'm well aware of the circumstances," Al says, breathing out a cloud of smoke, "Why should it concern me?"

"Sir if there is no pot, there is no business. No one will participate in a fight that does not produce any benefits. We're already short on dough for the cause."

"How's that possible? We just had a decent amount sent to the Nest."

"There were some….complications."

"Complications?" Al snarls, throwing down his cigarette and turning on Edge with a glare that makes the small man shrink back away from him. "What kind of complications?!"

"Well….the….the uh….the attacks have been becoming more and more very frequent."

Al turns away and looking down at the mesh flooring. "Dang. It's those kung fu turtles again, ain't it?"

"Y-yes. They've been more persistent than usual. Now we have not even more than half of what we promised. But sir...I have a suggestion something that may contribute to the solution, if ya might hear it?"

"And what may that be?"

"I only assume from my observations that the competitors would be much more motivated and willing to pay more if they were fighting for something far more precious than money. Something much more valuable….and alive."

A hand snatches the collar of his shirt and his back is slammed into the metal railing. "What are you idiot? What do ya think he'll do us when we use his own ward as a prize?"

"Treasurer is your duty Albert. Unless ya wanna financial crisis on your hands and wanna personally explain it to him why we don't have the juice, then I suggest ya find some way of making up for the missing money."

"Welcome home little worms. Expect ya to be bright-eyed and work-ready by tomorrow."

The chains are removed, but it still feels like they're around my wrists. My toes and fingers are completely numb. In the light under the door, I see red all over the bottoms of my feet , on my legs, and all over my arms. Even when Allen is mostly clear in the head, it doesn't make him that much less unpredictable.

I tear off a piece of my bed sheet and dab it on the cuts. "Just another day scrounging in garbage."

"Day?" Kat groans into her sheets as Joven nuzzles into her side, "Here day and night are the same. We don't even know if they take us to wherever we go during the day. We don't even know where we go when they get us. We don't know anything! After a month!"
I turn around to meet Kat's angry glare. "Katherine I share your frustration, but we have to patient. We'll figure out place to go and-"

"I've been patient for long enough. Tess, why? Why do we do this?"

It's always typical of Kat to be angry at the end of our work everyday, but on occasion a small dispute can turn into a full blown argument. "We need more time to put together a plan.

"What kind of life do you expect that we have here, while you're 'figuring out your so called plan?' What is keeping you so attached to this place?"

"Kat, I don't-" I start, but she cuts me off.

"Yes you do! You know exactly what I mean, and don't you dare deny it. You say how much you hate this nightmare, yet act like you want to stay in it."

I can feel the heat rise into my face. "Kat if you think for a second that I enjoy this everyday torture-"

"Then what? What is it? Just a few days ago, you were saying how much you want to get out of here. You were Miss Reck and Row, risking her neck on the surface of thugs to find us food. Now you aren't. For whatever reason, it's selfish of you Tess."

"We still don't know why we're here. I need to figure this out."

"You think I don't want to know that too? But I'd much prefer to find out from the safety of a home not a dungeon."

"I want that as much as you do Kat. But even we manage to escape, we'd just be throwing ourselves into the streets with nowhere to go and where the Purple Dragons will sure enough be waiting for us."

"If someone had put together a plan thirty days ago, maybe we would have a least have a chance! While we weren't starving hungry and weak!"

"It's not like I've had much of a choice."

"We've had a choice to run since we were thrown into this living hell and actually try to find a life to live, but finding out why the heck we're here is the only thing you care about! You spend your time daydreaming about your boyfriend Leo! It's your fault we're still living in this nightmare! It's your fault we're even here!"

Right then something deep down inside me snaps in two. But my voice is calm. "You know what? I don't care anymore. Until you figure out what to do about our debaco, find yourself another sister to rant at!"

Right about now, I could care less about any rules that I've set for myself. Right now, I don't have the patience to stay inside walls, in a corner with a temperamental sister that can't be reasoned with at the moment. I need some freedom.

When I step out into the gravel roof, I can't even feel the cold. I just take a deep breath of the fresh night air and lay against the side of the wall by the edge of the roof. I have forgotten how much I have missed the wind on my skin, even if I've only been without it for four days. It's a clear sky tonight and the millions of stars hovering over me are completely visible.

The peace is short when the realization of what really was said down in the cellar floods back to mind.

"This isn't my fault! Kat doesn't ever think rationally. She just rushes forward without even thinking about what she's getting herself into. If she hadn't tried to run in the first place, we wouldn't have scars on our ankles." My knees start to cramp, so I stand and stretch my legs. A little walk on the rooftops might help me think things through better. My toes are so numb that I can't feel them anymore, but I don't care. I easily jump to the next roof. More tears.

"She blames me for the fact that we're still living in that cellar! I've been trying to figure out a way of escape since we first arrived! It's not like I've had much of a chance to even figure out where we go or why we're here, let alone how to escape it. The more we fight back and resist them, the more they threaten and take measures to subdue us." I feel several more tears rolling down my cheeks.

As much as I want to be alone, I wish I could just talk things through with someone besides my impulsive sister or my little brother who doesn't need more things to worry about.

I head toward the quieter streets with less lights. Less commotion and activity means an even lesser possibility of Purple Dragons; even more so, an even greater possibility that Leo might be there.

"Leonardo? Are you hear?"

This is stupid. He's not going to be here.

I move to the edge to jump right when I hear something in the alley below. A stray black cat emerges from a pile of trash and runs off into the dark. I can sense a presence, and I slowly turn around.

I spring back in surprise! My feet strike the air and next thing I know, I'm dangling like a worm on a hook above a 20 foot drop with nothing but the hands of Leo suspending from falling.

"Are you okay?" He asks as he hoists me up onto the roof.

"Well, I almost fell off of a roof because someone snuck up on me!"

"I-I'm sorry Tess."

"I almost died! Do not EVER sneak up on me again!"

He draws back, and instantly I regret my words."I'm sorry….I heard you calling for me and I….I thought you were in trouble. But it seems you're fine, so….I'll just…."

"No Leonardo wait!" I feel awful. He's come to me as if in answer to my thoughts and the first thing I've done is yell at him. "I didn't mean to snap at you. I….haven't been very patient lately. I'm sorry. Please. Would you...just hang out with me?"

He smiles a little. "Sure." I sit down on the gravel and lean as comfortably as possible against the wall. Leo sits beside me, removing his katanas from his belt and placing them gently on the ground. "Don't be sorry Tess. You didn't scare me into stepping off of a roof. It's a force of habit, you know being a ninja and all."

"I would think so. Speaking of which, what are you doing out here? Don't tell me you were stalking me."

"I wouldn't say stalking. Call it patrolling. Are you okay? You look-"

"I'm fine, just trying to get all of my thoughts together." I turn around and wipe my cheeks.

"Do you want to talk about it?"

Yes, I do! "No. It's alright."

"Well if there's anything I can do to help, I'd be glad to. How have you been?"

Tired of dealing with a sister that can't look past her own anger. Tess, he's your friend! The least you can do is be honest. "I've been okay. I guess to sum it up in one word, I've been very very tired."

"Stay up to late much? Is it a habit of yours to go looking for trouble in the middle of the night?"

"Is it a habit of yours to stalk girls taking a walk a nighttime?"

He cants his head to his belt where he pulls out a phone with a turtle shell case. "A little late for a walk, don't ya think? Not to mention, it's dangerous it be out in the middle of the night all alone."

"But I'm not alone," I chuckle.

"Well, if I didn't 'stalk' you as you put it, you could well enough be attacked and I wouldn't be there to help you. Why do you come up here?"

"To me….this is going to sound crazy, but….I guess the right way to say it is….I feel free….up here. The night on the rooftops is freedom to me. It helps me-"

"Think things through?"

When I look at him a little surprised, he smiles. "I'm like that ways sometimes too. My brothers are great and I love them more than anyone could ever know. I'd do anything for them, but there are times when you just need to take some time away from them. Sometimes they can tick you off and you just need space. Hey? Are you alright?"

Just tell him Tess. You don't deny that this is something that you've wanted for a long while. You finally have someone to relate to and rely on. Don't waste the opportunity. I draw a deep breath and try hard not cry,"It's my….sister Kat. She….she just...gets angry at times and….now it feels like she's," A tear rolls down my cheek. "Unrecognizable. She blames me for why….several reasons. I'm like someone….well to her, I'm someone she can yell at when she's bursting at the seams. Don't you know what it's like….to be the target for someone to channel their anger on?"

"Actually, yes. Raphael and I have a….complicated relationship. Mostly because he's more sensitive to the smallest things. But I'll bet Kat doesn't punch you in the chest just because you get the last slice of pizza."

"Want a bet?"

"Haha. No. I'll take your….Tess, are you hurt?"

I sit up and follow his gaze as he reaches out to take my arm in his hand. The moment his skin touches mine, a surge of fluttering butterflies builds up in my stomach. He takes my arm, caressing the pale skin surrounding a large cut across my left arm. I remember Allen did that after one of us 'talked back to him.' Apparently due to my outburst, I neglected to notice it's still bleeding.

"What happened with these?"

"I….I don't know. I must have fallen or brushed up against something."

He wipes away a few stray drops of blood with his thumb. "It doesn't look too serious, but it still looks a little deep. You must have fallen really hard to split your skin wide open."

I roll my sleeve down over it. "I'll be fine. It's not that bad. I should probably get going. Thank you."

"No problem. It's what friends are for."

I don't take my eyes off of him until he disappears several yards away into the dark.

What kind of new difficulties will Tess be faced with?

What will happen to her siblings if she defies Allen?

At what lengths will Leo go to to find out more about his mysterious girl?

Will the turtles discover the truth behind Tess's scars?

Until next time turtle dudes! Keep on rockin!