I pulled out my cell phone in a kind of haze. Did that really just happen? The tied up man in front of me confirmed that it had indeed really happened. I dialed 911 and told the woman on the other end that a man had attacked me but that he was tied up and knocked out thanks to a helpful stranger. She assured me that a patrol car was on its way. While waiting for the police to arrive, I stood in silence watching the unconscious man, scared that at any second he would wake up and somehow remove his bindings to attack me.
"Oh my gosh, what happened?" A voice startled me out of my thoughts.
I turned with wide eyes to see who the voice belonged to. My eyes fell on a petite girl with curly red hair and bright blue eyes framed in black rimmed glasses. I stood speechless for a moment, waiting for my heart to stop racing.
"I'm sorry if I scared you." She replied.
"Oh no, that's okay. I'm just a little shaken up. That man attacked me, but before he could do any damage someone saved me and tied him up. I'm just waiting for the police to get here."
"I'm sorry to hear that, sweetie. I can stay here with you until they get here if you'd like."
I thought it over, I would feel much better waiting for the cops with someone with me.
"I'd like that. There's power in numbers, right?"
She laughed, "Even if there is only two of us." She reached out her hand for me to shake it, "I'm Clara, apartment 5B."
"You're Clara? I'm Sarah, your new roommate."
"I was wondering when I'd get to meet you!" She stated excitedly.
"I was hoping to meet you my first night here, but Whitley explained to me that you were at your boyfriend's house."
"Yeah, I mostly spend the entire weekend at his place. But since Whitley was gone I stayed a couple extra days. Tori and I will probably stay here this weekend though, maybe we can have a girl's night and get to know each other better."
"That would be awesome, I'm in desperate need of a girls night."
She opened her mouth to say something else but we were interrupted by a police officer.
"That him?" He asked bluntly.
"Yes sir." I replied.
The officer asked me several questions, took down my name and threw the criminal into the back of his cruiser. Clara hooked her arm in mine and we walked together to the apartment. For someone I had just met, I felt like I had known her forever. I could tell we would be very close friends.
When we entered the apartment the whole place smelled like cookies. Whitley was busy doing dishes and a girl who I assumed must be Tori was placing the cookies onto a plate. Whitley took one look at me and immediately rushed to my side.
"What on earth happened to you?" Her voice was shrill with worry as she stared at the scraps of my shirt.
I felt the blood rush to my face. In all my worry I had completely forgotten that my shirt was torn into a million shreds and barely hanging on my body.
"I was attacked in the parking garage." I replied.
Whitley ushered me to sit down at the bar as Clara poured me a glass of wine.
"He followed me from the restaurant, he kept his distance at first, probably because of all the people crowding the sidewalk. But once I was alone he dragged me into the dark and started trying to tear off my clothes. I tried to fight him off but he was just too strong for me." A tear rolled down my cheek as I told her the story, "I don't know what would have happened to me had a stranger not helped me. He fought him off and tied him up so that the police could take him into custody."
Whitley's look of concern didn't fade. She pulled me into a hug and all I could do was whimper into her hair.
"Thank God there was someone there to help you. I should have never left you to close alone."
"No, Whit. It wasn't your fault. What are the odds of that happening on my second night in the city?"
"The odds are pretty high actually. The city is a pretty dangerous place."
Whitley looked to Clara and Tori, "We'll have to get the guys to watch the restaurant before we leave each night."
They both nodded in agreement. I wiped the tears from my eyes and cheeks before drinking my entire glass of wine in one gulp.
"This might be a bad time for introductions…but I'm Tori." She stated as she pulled me into a hug as well.
Tori was a very youthful looking girl, she looked about four or five years younger than the rest of us. Her sandy blonde hair was cut into a short bob reaching just below her ears. Her eyes were big and brown and held a playful spirit to them.
"Nice to finally meet you, I'm Sarah."
"Whitley has told us soooo many stories about you two as kids. You guys were such trouble makers, had I not grown up in this city my whole life I think we would have been best friends." She replied with a laugh.
"Yeah, we definitely got into a lot of trouble as kids. Actually, come to think of it there was not a moment that we weren't getting into something mischievous."
Clara refilled my glass as well as three glasses for my new roommates.
"Can I just say I love your accent?" Clara smiled.
"Is it that noticeable?" I almost choked on wine.
"Come on, Sarah. You know you've got a southern drawl." Whitley laughed.
"Yeah…I guess I'm going to stand out like a sore thumb in this city."
Talking about accents reminded me of the Brooklyn accent owned by my savior earlier.
"The guy who saved me had a thick Brooklyn accent." I smiled as I looked down at my glass full of red liquid.
"What did he look like?" Tori questioned as she leaned in close to me.
"Well, I didn't get to see him really. I only caught a glint of silver off of what I'm assuming was his weapon."
Tori couldn't hold in her laugh, "Sound familiar?" She said to both Clara and Whitley.
"What was he doing here?" Clara asked.
I was so confused. Did they somehow know the man who saved me?
"He brought me home, Mikey had some training to do with Master Splinter. He didn't show up for training this morning…because of me." She replied with a blush.
"What are you guys talking about?" I finally asked.
"We're pretty sure the guy who saved you was one of Leo's brothers. Remember how I told you they were ninjas?" Whitely asked and I nodded, "Well when there is someone in trouble they save them…it's what they do."
That's when I remembered the story that Whitley had told me on the way to New York. Leonardo had saved her when they were both teenagers.
"What's his name?" I questioned.
Whitley smiled really big at my curiosity, "Raphael. He's the single brother." Her smile, if possible, grew wider at that.
"Whitley, she's too sweet for Raphael." Clara chimed in.
"I dunno, I think she'd be good for the hothead." Tori replied.
"Whoa guys, calm down, I never said I wanted to date him." I took a big gulp of wine, "What're your boyfriends like?"
Tori was the first to speak, "Well, my boyfriend is the funny one of all his brothers. It's one of the reasons why I love him so much. He's such a jokester. Not to mention he's incredibly easy going, I think he could get along with just about anyone."
"His name is Mikey?" I asked wanting to know more about this mysterious group of ninja brothers.
"Well, Mikey is his nickname, his name is actually Michelangelo."
"Wow, that's a unique name."
"All four brothers are named after artists in the Italian renaissance. My boyfriend's name is Donatello. He's the brains of the group. He's such a nerd." She laughed a little, "But that's what makes him so amazing, he's always inventing things to help out his family. He's basically the sweetest guy I've ever met."
All three girls had a dreamy look plastered on their faces and I finished my glass of wine before breaking the silence once more.
"So…tell me about Raphael then." As much as I hated to admit it, I was curious about him.
"Well…Raph is…He's…" Whitley was struggling to find words to describe him.
"He's a real ass sometimes." Tori finished for her.
"Oh come on Tori…he's not so bad." Whitley replied, "Okay yeah, he's an asshole. But I think he's just misunderstood. I think he means well, he just lets his temper get the best of him most of the time."
"And you wanted to set me up with a guy like that?" I laughed.
"Well, like Tori said, I think you'd be good for him. You're so kind hearted, I think you could calm him down some."
"Mom always told me never to get into a relationship thinking you could change someone. You'll only end up hurting yourself and your partner."
"I don't mean change him, I mean keep his temper in check. He doesn't ever talk about his feelings but something tells me that he's lonely." Whitley answered.
Silence fell over our little group and I stifled a yawn.
"Thanks for the talk girls, you really calmed my nerves."
"You can sleep without any worries tonight, Donatello just sent me a text saying that he and the guys would be watching over our building tonight."
I wished my new friends goodnight and went to my room. I crawled into bed with my light still on, even if the ninja brothers were watching over us, I can't be in the dark right now. I closed my eyes and struggled to fall asleep.
Raphael's POV
When I got back to the sewer den, the whole place was mostly quiet. Aside from the occasional beeping coming from Donnie's lab. I walked to his lab and knocked roughly on the door.
"Come in." He yelled from the other side.
I pushed open his door. "I think we need to watch the girl's apartment tonight."
"Why did something happen? Clara didn't call me." He stated in a panic.
"Yeah something happened but not to Clara." I replied, "Or Whitley or Tori." I finished before he could even ask.
"Oh…well what happened then?"
"I was leaving to come back here after I dropped Tori off and I heard a scream. I went to check it out and I saw this guy all in black attacking a girl. Looked like he was about to have his way with her."
Donatello's eyes got wide as I continued the story, "I shoved him off of her and made sure he was good and knocked out before tying him up. I waited for the cops to show up before coming back here. Clara was standing with her when I left. I overheard her saying that she was their new roommate."
"Then that must have been Sarah, Whitley's cousin. She just moved up here from Louisiana."
"Well what a good first impression of the city." I replied.
"I'll text Clara and let her know that we will station ourselves outside their building tonight."
"You guys can stay in the apartment with them. I can keep watch from outside." I answered.
"Raph…you've seen several girls attacked and almost raped before. I don't think I've ever seen you this torn up from it."
"I…well…I…" I rubbed the back of my neck uncomfortably, "Shut up Donnie."
I stormed out of his lab and to my room. I heard him chuckle from behind me. It was true that I had witnessed and stopped several 'men' from attacking women and not given another thought about it. But something about this girl was different. Not to mention I have never seen someone as beautiful as her. I had a feeling that was unexplainable. I wanted to see more of this girl…knowing that she's Whitley's cousin gives me some hope. Maybe I'll get to meet her eventually.
But a girl like that would never want a guy like me…what would be the point in meeting her? I slammed my fist into the wall making the stone crumble a little bit behind the force of my hit.