Emilynn's stomach growled loudly. Again. She groaned. How long had it been since her last meal? The night she had been sitting in the pizza place with Kasey and April seemed so long ago. It had to have been days. She was starving. She had spent the last five years of her life starving, but this was worse. Even in her most desperate times she could manage to steal at least something from the trash. But now there was nothing. And how many days had it been? She couldn't tell. All she had known for what seemed like the last eternity was the dark walls of this room. The same room she had been put in since the beginning. The only difference is that the room was now lined with several tables, all of which were completely full of small weapons and tools, made for nothing else but to cause pain. On the table closest to her was the pile of dirty tools. They were the ones that were now red with her own blood.
They had began to turn a dark brown color. He, Hiroto, hadn't used any on her in a while. Maybe he had gotten bored. Maybe he was just trying a new kind of torture at this point. He had been gone for a long time. The last time he had came in he had forced her to drink, and she shamefully obliged.
"You can't die on me quite yet." He had whispered to her, before leaving. He still hadn't returned.
She remembered how much water had sloshed all over her tattered clothes. Freezing water that had left her chilled to the bone. She had longed so desperately for her old dirty blanket that Mikey had given her, then for Mikey himself. What did he think? Had he even noticed she was gone? Would he care?
Emilynn wasn't sure what Mikey's motives for visiting her and helping her had been in the first place. She couldn't be sure that he really liked her at all. Not enough to miss her, anyways. She almost wished that were true. The image of Mikey checking in on her every day just to find her gone each time hurt her chest.
The cold spots left by her messy drinking had completely disappeared by now. Her body, however, continued to shiver. It rocked the seat she sat on. She whimpered lightly. Her body was sore from sitting in a hard seat so long. She tried to wiggle into a more comfortable position, but it didn't work. She looked down at where her wrists were tied. The skin was chafing. It burned.
She winced at the skin below her wrists. Her sleeves had been rolled up to reveal pale skinny arms that were now covered in large gash marks and bruises and cracking splotches of dried blood. It reminded her of the one time she had hurt herself, when she was just nine years old. She could remember the desperation. The feeling was still strong inside of her. The need for release. She'd heard of other kids doing it. So, late one night, she snuck from her bed, past all of the other sleeping girls. For some reason she could still distinctly remember the way the freezing stone floor had felt on her toes, along with the way the girl in red braids had snorted in her sleep while Emilynn had slowly tip-toed past her. All of the memories were strangely vivid in her brain. Especially the blood.
Her hand must have slipped, or something. She remembered thinking, there's too much blood. Then the panic. The rush she was in to find something to press against her arm, to stop the bleeding. How hard it was to clean each drop of blood from the floor in the almost pitch black kitchen. And the despair she had felt crawling back into bed with a wet sticky towel wrapped around her arm, too tightly. She remembered the sadness exactly. And the anger. It didn't work. She had thought. It didn't work.
In the morning when she woke up, her entire arm was a mess with old blood. It made her sick.
She never tried it again after that.
Emilynn looked down at her arm. Just a few inches below her chafing wrists, she could just barely make out the shiny scar she had left herself. She was sure now there was going to be many more. She looked away from the gruesome sight.
She forced herself to take deep breaths. Her chest throbbed in the same way it always did. Inwardly. Like everything inside of her was being pulled into a black hole. Sucked away. Erased. And out of the black hole came the panic.
Stop. She said to herself. She had to keep her head. She couldn't give up. She had a promise to keep.
Never give up. Never stop fighting.
She tried to think of something else. But was else was there? Mikey. Her mind pushed. The only good memory she had that wouldn't completely shatter her. Think about Mikey.
So she did.
"Em, can I tell you something?"
"Sure, Daddy." Emilynn turned her head away from her finger painting to stare at the big man. He smiled kindly at her.
"Come here." He said, beckoning with his head. His hair waved slightly. She giggled at it, getting up from the floor.
"What's so funny?" Her father asked as she walked over to him. She pointed at his hair. He made a face, looking up comically in an attempt to see his own head. Emilynn just laughed more. He smiled at her. "I guess I do need a haircut." He said, taking a piece of his raven hair between his fingers and twisting it thoughtfully.
"No," She said. "I like it like that." Her father raised his dark eyebrows at her.
"Oh, yeah?" He asked, sounding surprised. Emilynn nodded.
"It's pretty." She said. He grinned, scooping her into his lap.
"Just like yours." He said. He pressed their foreheads together, and his hair fell into hers. Besides length, there was no difference. He pulled a piece of her hair softly and kissed her face, before moving away. Suddenly his face was troubled.
"What's wrong?" Emilynn asked. She put her hand against his face, and left a wet paint print. He didn't seem to notice. "Dad?" She asked, her small face puckering up with concern.
His eyes turned back to her, and he smiled again suddenly, taking her tiny paint-covered hand in his. "I have a secret to tell you." He whispered mischievously. Emilynn's face brightened immediately.
"What is it?" She said loudly, her small voice getting high with excitement. Her father put a finger to his lips.
"Shh!" He said. "Don't you know the rules of having a secret, Em?"
Her eyes widened, and she nodded her head rapidly. Her small mouth formed a surprised "o" shape.
"You can't tell anyone." He said. Emilynn's mouth widened further as she took an awed breath.
"Not even Mommy?" She asked. He tilted his head, making his hair wave again.
"Well, maybe Mommy." He said, looking back at her. "But just her." He winked, making her giggle.
"Because she's special." Emilynn said. Her dad grinned, squeezing her with his free hand.
"Yes." He agreed. "She's very special."
"Tell me the secret now, Daddy. Please." Emilynn urged. She bounced eagerly on his leg.
"Alright, alright, alright. Just promise you wont tell anyone." He said.
"Except Mommy."
"Anyone except Mommy."
"I promise!" Emilynn shouted, before covering her mouth with her hand. "Sorry." She whispered. Her dad laughed deeply, raising a hand and wiping pink paint off of her face.
"You're a mess, kid." He said kindly. She looked down at her wet hands.
"Sorry." She said again, folding her hands protectively into her lap.
"I don't mind." Her father said, taking her hands in his again. "The paint washes off. But the memories don't."
Emilynn grinned. "You're the smartest Dad I've ever had." She said.
"I know." He said, sticking out his tongue and crossing his eyes. She laughed loudly, and he hugged her tightly. Once he pulled away he looked at her, serious again. "Okay. Secret now. Serious business."
Emilynn closed her mouth tightly and nodded her head, looking at him with wide eyes. He gave her a fond smile and tucked a strand of hair behind her small ear. Where he touched it, a small smudge of pink came off of his hand and marred her hairs usual dark color. Emilynn didn't mind anymore. He was silent for a moment, gazing at her face.
"I want you to know." He said finally. "Your name."
Emilynn laughed. "You're silly. I already know my name." Her father shook his head.
"No, hon. Your real name."
Emilynn's eyebrows came together. "My real name?" She repeated, puzzled.
"Mhm. The one Mommy and I gave you when you were born." Her dad watched her face as she processed this. She looked up at him with her huge eyes full of confusion.
"But I thought you gave me Emilynn when I was born." She said.
"No, Em. We gave you that name when you were two."
Emilynn's bottom lip stuck out and she looked at her father's chin. She seemed to be thinking hard. He waited patiently.
"Why?" She said finally. Her father took a deep breath.
"Remember how I said your mother was special?" He asked her. She nodded.
"Well, you're like her." He said.
"I'm special?" She asked. He squeezed her gently.
"Yes. Very special. Even more special than Mommy."
Emilynn gasped quietly. "More special than Mommy?" She repeated, shocked. Her father nodded, but his face was sad again.
"Yes." He said. "So special that people want to take you away."
"Away from you?" Emilynn asked, her face slowly morphing into panic. Her father nodded.
"Yes, Em."
"Why?" She cried. Her father wrapped his arms around her and cradled her into him.
"Shh, Em. It's okay. I'll tell you when you're older, alright?"
Emilynn's face was frozen in fear. "But I don't want them to take me away!" She wailed.
"Don't worry, Emmy. We wont let them. That's why we changed your name. To protect you. We'll always protect you. Promise." He kissed the top of her head.
"What's my real name, then?" She asked him.
"Tenshi." He said. He looked down at her.
"Tenshi." She repeated dreamily.
"Do you know what that means?" He asked her. She shook her head.
"It's Japanese. It means angel." He said.
"Why is it Japanese?" She asked him. He laughed at her.
"Because you're Japanese." He said, ruffling her hair lightly.
"I am?" She asked.
"Well, you've never been there. But it's in your blood."
"Do I look Japanese?" Emilynn asked her, tilting her face up to his. He pretended to look at her face as though it was the first time he had ever seen it before.
"Kinda." He said. "You've got the hair, definitely. These, though..." He said, tapping one of her eyelids gently, "These are all you."
She looked up into his eyes. They were dark brown, with small rings of gray inside of them. He returned her stare, gazing lovingly into her massive crystalline eyes. How she got them was a mystery, but they were most certainly beautiful. The lightest blue he had ever seen in an eye, almost white on some days. Inside them were swirls upon swirls of colors ranging from white to gray to blue.
"Those are one of the reasons your mother wanted to name you Tenshi. Angel." He paused, smiling at her. "You've had those eyes since the day you were born, and she said when she first looked into them, she was convinced she was staring straight into heaven."
"Tenshi." Emilynn breathed, once again.
"Em, I need you to promise me something else." Her father said suddenly.
"What, Daddy?" She asked.
"You can never tell anyone your name. Your real one, I mean. And if you ever meet someone who calls you by that name, I need you to get away from them as fast as you can. Got it?" He looked down at her, his eyes filled with urgency that almost frightened her.
"Got it." She said firmly in her small voice.
"Okay." Her father said. Then the door opened. Emilynn looked up from behind her father's shoulder.
"Mommy!" She yelled, all seriousness gone. She clambered down from her father's lap, smudging paint all over his legs as she went. She ran to her mother, who immediately scooped her up into her arms.
"Oof!" Her mother huffed. "You're getting huge, Em." She said. She looked at Emilynn's father, who was walking towards the two. "Did you paint Daddy?" She asked, grinning at the man.
"I made memories." Emilynn said.
"Oh?" Her mother asked. Emilynn nodded happily.
"Looks like she got you, too." Her father said, returning the grin and gesturing at the woman's shirt. Emilynn's mother looked down and there was already bright smudges all over her.
"I'll definitely have memories of washing this out." She said. The two adults laughed.
"Mommy, Daddy told me a secret!" Emilynn said. Her mother raised an eyebrow at her father.
"Did he now? What'd he say?"
"He told me about how you named me Tenshi because you said my eyes were like heaven!"
Her mother's smile fell, and she slowly set Emilynn down. Emilynn made a protestant noise.
"Sorry Emmy, you're too heavy. It was making my back hurt."
"I'm sorry, Mommy."
"It's fine, Em. Why don't you finish your painting for me?"
"Okay." Emilynn said, bouncing off.
"You told her?" Emilynn could hear her mother whisper fiercely from her spot with her paints.
"She needs to know these things." Her father responded.
"No she doesn't!" Her mother said, less quiet now. "She's six. What if she tells someone?"
"She promised me she wouldn't."
Emilynn could hear her mother moan. "Six, Haru. She doesn't understand-"
"She does. She's a smart kid. We can't just not tell her these things. Keeping her in the dark is more dangerous than keeping her in the light. You know that."
Her mother sighed shakily. "I know." She said, whispering again. "I know." She repeated. Emilynn hopped up with her finished painting and brought it to them. She found them embracing each other. Her mother shook in her father's arms. Her face was away, so she didn't see her daughter's approach. Emilynn's father held a finger to his lips. Emilynn nodded silently, standing still as her father walked her mother away. He brought her to the bedroom, then eventually came out again without her.
"Was Mom crying?" Emilynn asked her father. Her painting dangled from two of her tiny, dirty fingers.
"Yeah, Em." Her father said sadly.
"Why?"
"Because, she's tired."
"Is she tired of work?" Emilynn asked.
"No, Honey. She's just tired of being so strong all of the time."
"What do you mean?"
"Sometimes, when you're strong like your mother, you need to cry."
"Why?" Emilynn asked again.
"Because it's hard."
"Then why does she do it?"
Emilynn's father knelt down in front of Emilynn and took her one free hand. "For you." He said.
"But, why?"
"Because she loves you."
"I love her, too." Emilynn said quietly.
"Can you promise me one last thing then, Emmy?"
Emilynn looked up at her dad and nodded.
"I want you to be strong like your mother. For her."
"Because I love her." Emilynn said.
"Exactly."
"How do I be strong?" She asked him. Her father took her wet painting and set in on the table beside them. He picked her up and kissed her face firmly.
"Never give up, Em. Never stop fighting."
Emilynn thought of her mother crying silently in the next room. She nodded once.
"I wont."
Emilynn awoke with a loud cry. Her face stung from what she guessed had been a very hard slap.
"Wakey wakey, Princess." Hiroto cooed. So he was back. "Awe, did you have a bad dream?" He asked, wiping a finger quickly across her cheek. She realized it was wet with tears. He leaned in close to her face, his exposed mouth dangerously close to hers. "Was it about Mommy and Daddy?" He whispered venomously.
She spat in his face.
He grimaced, wiping his mouth. "I really wouldn't do that, if I was you." He growled.
"Why's that?" She muttered, suddenly the most brave she had felt since being captured.
"Because I was supposed to be coming here to kill you."
Emilynn's body froze.
"Yeah, Master Shredder finally gave up you and your turtle talk. But the thing is, I had a different plan."
She eyed him warily, her heart pounding loudly in her chest.
"Those good-for-nothing Foot men actually did well for once." He said. "They grabbed this on the way out." He held up a device that Emilynn immediately recognized as the phone she had used to call for Kasey's backup.
"We fixed it up, and it works now." He said. "So you know what we're gonna do?" The black eyes of his mask glared at Emilynn darkly. For once he didn't seem fazed by her lack of reply. "We're gonna call 'em up."
Emilynn's eyes widened. She had no clue who these strange people were that she had accidentally gotten involved with, but she knew for sure that she had no intention of putting them through what she'd already been through. She shook her head.
"Oh yes, Beautiful." He said before coughing out his disgusting laugh. "You're gonna sing like a pretty siren, and I'm gonna be the rocks hiding under the sea. An' together, you and me are gonna lure those repulsive turtles, and all their friends, straight to their horrible, horrible deaths."
These chapters are starting to get just a little intense. Sorry if these note things ruin it for you. Just skip them if you need to, it's just me being dooty anyways. Mostly just a very long trip down memory lane this time. Along with slight torture and plans for murder. There'll be turtles next chapter, I promise. I know you guys are just here for our turtle babes. Maybe eventually these characters will get around to telling me what the heck this whole Emilynn thing is all about. Until then, bear with me. Anyways, here's the good old part where I thank you for reading and ask for reviews because I'm a lonely kid who craves attention and yadda yadda. But anyways. Thanks for reading. Review, maybe? I'd be interested to know what you're all guessing for this story's future. Your guess is as good as mine, honestly. Just let me know what you think, I guess. I don't know. I'm just a lonely boy who is also a girl who is a boy who writes way too much nonsense under these chapters and ah I'm trash I guess I'll stop rambling and go now. Okay, bye-o. c: