Chapter 4:

Emmaline after Donnie had patched her up, had been taken to the hospital, she had a concussion and needed to be observed for a few days. She was in a panic wondering what her sister was going to do with her gone. She was supposed to go grocery shopping the night she was attacked, the boathouse didn't have any food.

She's all by herself, probably worried sick… What if something happens to her? What if she starves!?

"Emma?"

Her head shot up seeing April enter the room. "Oh… Hey ma'am…"

"Call me April. Not ma'am." She said taking a seat. "How you feeling?"

The eighteen year old sighed leaning back a little. "Sore, sick of getting poked and prodded… And worried… About… Well… My sister…"

"Your sister? Why?"

"... She doesn't live with my mom and dad… She lives with me and I don't have a phone, we don't even own a landline… She doesn't know where I am…" Emmaline felt a pang of guilt as she lowered her head. "I...I was supposed to go food shopping last night…"

"Emmaline… Look at me…"

She looked up. April gave her a gentle look taking her hand.

"Until you get out of here I can take care of her… Just give me the address and I can pick her up." She said assuringly. How hard can it be? Just one teenage girl right?

Emmaline got a horrified look pulling her hand away. "Y-you can't! You...You don't understand…!"

April narrowed her eyes a little. "Emmaline… If it's because I'm a stranger to her, I've lived with some teenage relatives before and taken care of them. Four at the same time and my house is still standing."

"No it's…" She looked to the open door. "...Close the door…"

April got up getting it. "Lock it please."

She sighed doing so wondering what it was. She sat down again and leaned forward curious now. "Now… What don't I get?"

Emmaline sighed running a hand through her hair, wondering how she was going to explain this. Well my little sister is a mutant! Not just any kind of mutant but a teenage shark girl mutant! Oh by the way she's also a LITTLE clumsy! But she can make a mean macaroon? Oh GREAT idea genius!

"... She's not normal."

She's not normal… THAT'S MY BEST GO!? Stupid, stupid, stupid! She started hitting herself with her pillow. "Stupid, stupid, stuipid!"

"EMMA!" April took it away. "Calm down for five minutes and just spit it out. She's not normal… Emphasize the not."

Emmaline touched the locket she had around her neck, no one could tell from looking at it, that it could open. "... Come closer."

April leaned forward looking at it as Emmaline cracked it open revealing two pictures…

One of a young girl around fifteen, beaming at the camera wearing a costume from some ballet striking a pose, who beared a strong resemblance to Emmaline… The other picture…

Of… What looked like another young girl, if not the same girl. The girl in this picture, had light brown skin, with dark brown spots covering what looked like her entire body from what April could see. She had a large white rimmed black spot on the right side of her face, and from what she could make out on her neck… She had gills. In this picture she looked nervous, wearing a sailor style top with short sleeves crossing her arms.

"This… Is Loralie… My sister…"

"My word…" April breathed, looking at the pictures closely… It really was the same girl. "What… Happened to her?"

"Liars... " Emmaline replied swallowing hard. "... Liars happened."

The woman looked at the girl closely, looking at the picture Emmaline looked like she was on the brink of tears.

"I… I couldn't protect her…"

"Emmaline… Let me help you…"

"Promise you won't tell anyone what she is? Or who she is?"

"Promise on my life she'll be safe…. Where is she?"

Emmaline grabbed a piece of paper and a pen jotting down where the boat house was. "Here…"

April pocketed it and smiled giving the girl's shoulder a squeeze. "Everything's gonna be just fine."

"Thank you." She smiled quickly wiping her eyes free of tears of relief. "...Seriously...Thank you."

"Hey… Everything'll be fine…"

Loralie proved to be harder then expected to move out of the boathouse. The shark girl, had first tried blocking the door, then just plain went into hiding… And it took April nearly an hour to convince her that yes, her sister sent her.

Now the girl was curled up upright on the couch of April's apartment watching a movie and trying to stay awake. April had some thing's to work on downstairs, so Loralie kept to herself.

Loralie blinked slowly watching the screen in front of her. She thought she'd be more awake getting to see an actual TV again but it lost it's novelty now.

And I really wanted to watch Divergent too…. Loralie thought shifting so she was laying on her side resting her head on the arm of the couch. Just as Tris and Christina jumped off the Dauntless train, Loralie's eyes slid shut as she passed right out exhausted.

She was down for the count, she didn't hear April come back upstairs, she didn't hear the window slide open. Or see who stepped through.

She was oblivious to the newcomer who came to look over something of April's that wasn't working right, and that said newcomer recognized her. "April…!?" Donnie whisper/yelled looking at the passed out mutant.

"I know, I know lots of explaining-"

"That's the girl who wanted to claw Mikey's face off!" He interrupted.

April blinked and looked at Loralie, the girl was curled up on her side, knees brought to her chest. She didn't seem like a fighter just startled easily from what she had seen. "Well… She was pretty jumpy when her sister asked me to get her…"

"Sister…?"

"Emmaline… Is her older sister."

Donnie blinked before it dawned on him. "So THAT'S why she looked familiar." He murmured.

"Yeah… Her sister was frantic about someone looking after her… She hasn't made trouble for me except being terrified that I was lying about being sent by her sister…"

"Well… I can't really blame her."

"Me either… Just… Goodness... It's weird seeing another mutant so young up close y'know?"

He nodded. "Yeah… I know…" The inventor knelt looking at the girl closer. She was out like a light, her hair in her face a little. He noted the gills on her neck narrowing his eyes in thought. The gills looked functional, but it was clear she could breathe above water as well. "Strange…"

"They think she's been crossed with an Epaulette… But Emmaline didn't want to give me the whole story…" April explained crossing her arms. "Can't really blame her… I'm pretty much a stranger to them."

"Well it looks like whoever mutated her knew what they were doing… As insane a thought that is… The gills prove that much." He commented moving back. Still… She was a human once… She didn't deserve this…

Their thoughts were interrupted when the girl on the couch started to stir.

Oh boy…. This is not gonna be pretty…

Donnie was too late to hide when she opened her eyes looking directly at him.

There was a haze of confusion in her eyes before she rubbed them sitting up and looking again as if it might make the turtle in front of her vanish… Before her eyes widened in alarm that he was in fact standing there. He knew that look, and he braced himself for the inevitable.

"You… You…"

Here we go… AHHH! Your the freak from the other night!

A pillow was flung at him. "YOU WERE WATCHING ME SLEEP!?" She shrieked grabbing the other couch cushion. Donnie deflected the first one ducking when the second one went flying.

"Hey take it easy with those!" He exclaimed. "It was unintentional! I was observing not watching!" He added quickly.

Loralie gave him a look of disbelief before shuddering hugging herself. "That's so Edward Cullen it makes me sick!" She groaned shuddering once more. "Ugh…" She looked at him closer and blinked. "Hey wait a sec-"

"If this involves couch cushions sorry but there was only two unless you wanna get up."

"It's not that… You... " She trailed off as it clicked. "... Hey! You and your friend were bugging me the other night!"

Donnie cringed a bit. A new mutant and she already hated him it appeared. "Brother not friend and I was trying to get him away from you… He's sadly naturally annoying…"

Loralie was quiet watching him with a hardened look. "... Okay your off the hook for the watching me sleep like a Slenderturtle…. But your brother gets forty five percent power if I see him again."

S-SLENDER TURTLE!? Donnie thought giving her a look back. "I was NOT watching you sleep for the last time!"

"Mm-hm…. Alright I got that out of my system…" She stretched a bit. "Listen to me… Having an argument with a talking turtle… And I thought I was the only mutant running around…" The only free roaming mutant at least….

Donnie sighed rubbing the back of his neck. This wasn't how things usually went down. He expected screaming, fainting, running away or sometimes all three. Not… This. She actually compared me to Edward Cullen… Hmph…

An awkward silence settled as the two teens looked at one another curious but not willing to be the first one to ask.

Great now it's weird and awkward… April thought before the bell downstairs sounded. "I'll be right back. Try not to bludgeon him to death with a couch cushion. I still need him around." She said heading downstairs.

Once they were alone, Loralie got up heading straight for the garbage can having her back to Donnie. She winced before spitting out a sharpened tooth into it. Ugh… Another new row's comin' in already…?

"You alright?"

"H-huh?"

"I said… You alright?"

She looked over to him and nodded. "Uh… Just somethin' stupid…" She said glancing away. "My name's Loralie…"

"Donatello."

She blinked recognizing the name. "Like the artist?"

The ninja chuckled. "Yep, the very one… Ehehe you could say my dad had a thing for artists…. My brothers are all named after 'em too."

"Nice… My sister still gripes about her middle name being a boy's name...Well Donatello… Nice to meet'cha."

He nodded.

Another bout of silence followed as the two teens looked at each other then looked away. "Um… Sorry this is just weird…" Loralie said finally running a hand through her hair. "I thought I was the only mutant, and then I thought you and your brother were just douchebags-No offense, but the keyboard incident made me REALLY mad."

"That's Mikey for ya… My brother has a tendency to drive people crazy." Donnie sighed. "It's his secret mutant power we swear."

She giggled. "Well long as he doesn't make it a habit of bugging me… I think he can be allowed to live." She joked.

"Right."

When April came back up an hour or so later, she found Donnie working on the heater he promised he'd fix for her, and Loralie was standing nearby watching.

"Wrench."

She passed it to him.

"Coils."

"Here."

"Sandwich."

"... Make it yourself."

Well…. Looks like I didn't have to worry about 'em….