WARNING: ATTEMPT OF SUICIDE

Seven days later

Julian and Judi stand over the top of the lair's skate ramp as they watch Mikey skate across and land safely while performing stunts and tricks. Judi was impressed by this, while Julian looked nervous and scared. He watched Mikey stake to the opposite side of the ramp and landed carefully.

Julian held the skateboard close to his chest. "Are you sure about this, Mikey?" He asked. When Mikey asked him if he would like to try skateboarding, he was very hesitant about the question since he never learned how to skate in his human days. But the look on Judi's face made him change his mind.

"Yeah, man!" Mikey nodded. He pressed his feet at the curved side of his board, causing it to lift up and catch the other end. "Just keep your feet pressed to the board; you are a skating master!"

"Got it." Julian nodded, looking down on the ramp, and gulped hesitantly.

He set the skateboard down, placed his feet on the grid top, and stayed still. He looked down, feeling his heart going fast and his hands shaking as well. After a few seconds, he breathes slowly as he closes his eyes and presses his feet down, causing the skateboard to slide down the ramp.

Julian skated, flew up the air, and landed on the ramp, staking across. He opens his eyes and slowly smiles at this. He skated across, even placing his hand on the edge before stepping down and skating across again.

"Wow!!" He exclaimed happily. "I'm doing it!! Woo-Hoo!!" He placed two of his hands on the edge, holding still for five seconds, and landed on the ramp.

"What did I tell you?! You are a skating master!!" Mikey cheered for him, watching him stake and proud of him.

Judi was clapping and giggling, watching her brother skating. She is so happy for him and even did a small hop on her feet as well. She clapped her hands together with a smile on her face and a sparkle in her eyes as well.

Then, she felt a slight dizziness in her head. She pulled her hands apart and touched her forehead, trying to calm the dizziness. Till she felt a sharp headache in her brain, she fell off the ramp and landed on the floor, feeling a pain in both her shell and her head.

Mikey and Julian saw what had happened, causing Julian to fall off the skateboard and land on the floor. But Julian couldn't care less about his pain; his sister had fallen. He crawled to her as Mikey jumped off the ramp and landed beside Judi.

Judi looks up; her sight seems a little blurry, and she only hears the muffle of their voice as they call out to her. Her brother was scared for her, and Mikey was also in a panic. She slowly closed her eyes; her headache was too much to bear, and she felt so weak as well.

"JUDI!!!" Mikey shouted her name, which echoed inside her mind, and all went black.

Three months earlier, before the mutation

In Laneway High's art room, students paint on a canvas. One was painting a landscape of a field, another was painting an ocean view, and another had painted a farm field. Their teacher was walking behind them, looking at their canvas, and nodded with a warm smile.

One student was Judi back when she was a human. She is dressed in a yellow turtleneck sweater, a brown jacket over it, dark jeans, and Converse shoes. Her long red hair was in pigtails. She was just sitting on her seat while staring at the canvas with a blank stare. Her blue eyes look so lost and empty inside while holding a paintbrush and painting without thinking.

Just as she was still painting, she felt a tap on her shoulder, causing her to stop painting, and life returned to her eyes. She turned around and saw the teacher looking at her canvas.

"Judith, I said, paint a landscape." She told her, still looking at the canvas.

"But I did-"Just as she was about to argue, she looked at her canvas and gasped at her painting.

The painting shows two adults lying dead and eyes looking down on them. The eyes are red, and the background is black, while the dead bodies are blue. A caption on the bottom said, 'You can't escape me.' It horrified Judi that she did it without thinking. She was trying to paint a beautiful landscape of an Irish field of flowers, but she had a blackout and painted this instead.

She looked up at the teacher, frowning. "I... I'm sorry...I just.."

Then Judi got sent to the principal office. She sat on a chair, her legs up and hugging them close. She let out a sad sigh, great she thought to herself. She just wanted a normal day without getting into more trouble.

Suddenly, she heard a voice calling her name. It sounded like it was coming from the other side of the hallway, but she covered her ears to block it. "Go away. I am not in the mood for this." She huffed in annoyance, but no one was around or close to her. The voices grow louder, shouting her name. Judi growled and slammed her hands down on the armrest. "I said go away!!!"

"Judi! It's me!!" A familiar voice shouted, a voice Judi felt safe with. It was her twin brother Julian when he was human. He wore a yellow t-shirt sweater, brown jacket, dark jeans, and Converse shoes. He was standing next to her seat with his hands up.

"Julian?" Judi blinked. She frowned sadly and wrapped her hands around her head. "I-I'm sorry..I-I.."

Julian then sat beside his sister, pulling her in a hug. "I know…I know."

Voices were heard on the other side of the wall; most likely, the principal was talking to someone. Julian listens to their conversation. "This is the sixth time this month Miss Miller is reported for disrupting classes, aggrieved behavior, and inappropriate graphics for this school." The principal charged. "And she once punched a student in the face! He has to be sent to the hospital for damaged fractures!!"

"Please understand, Judi is going through a struggling grieving process ever since she and Julian lost their parents." Another voice assured.

"Grieving or not, that girl will never have a future if she keeps being in her made-up fantasy world." The principal snarled.

Judi heard their conversation, frowning over what he said about her and her so-called made-up world. She let some tears fall down her cheeks as Julian hugged her close till her head lay on his shoulder. Things have been horribly hard for them since they lost their parents.

The door opens, and out comes two adults. The principal and a lady with long black hair in a bun, brown eyes, pale skin, dress in a blouse, skirt, and black shoes. The two stare at the two young twins.

"Miss Miller, you are expelled for good the next time you get sent to my office." The principal tells her, then turns to Julian. "And that goes double for you, too, young man." He pointed a finger at him.

Julian gulped. "Sir, I promise Judi will be in her best behavior." He swore to him.

"Keep that promise, young man." The principal glared right as he returned to his office.

When he was gone, the lady glared down at the twins with a disappointed expression. Judi frowns sadly at this; this day can't be any more worse.

The twins sat in the backseat of a car as the lady was driving. The twins have gone quiet, not even looking at the rearview mirror, knowing she is watching them while driving. After their father killed their mother and killed himself, the twins got placed in the foster home care system in the hope of getting adopted. But none of the families they were assigned to ever liked taking care of them, primarily because of Judi. It put a heavy burden on her.

After a few moments of silence, the lady spoke to them. "Judi, please understand." She began with a motherly voice that was supposed to make them feel better. "I only want you two to live a healthy lifestyle, but you must let the past go and move on."

"But Mrs. Raystone-"Judi tried to argue back but was interrupted by Mrs. Raystone.

"I don't want to hear any more excuses." She told them.

"Mrs. Raystone, Judi has schizophrenia-" but Julian got interrupted by Mrs. Raystone as well.

"Not now, Julian!! You can't keep covering for her forever; this is her battle she needs to deal with." Mrs. Raystone scolded her. "Not yours."

Julian sighed. "Yes, ma'am.." he frowned sadly. When the twins found out Judi got schizophrenia when they were both twelve, the foster home refused to get her the treatment because they believed it was just part of their grieving process.

Judi looks through the window as she watches everyone go by them. She let out a soft sigh, upset and helpless. She saw a hallucination of her father staring at her with a crazy look in the window. Judi gasped and covered her eyes to avoid getting herself into trouble.

Julian saw this and rubbed her back softly. He knew it was a hallucination when she covered her eyes and ears, meaning it was her illness playing an evil trick on her.

The car was parked on the driveway where the foster care home stood. To everyone, it's a sanctuary for young children who need a home. But to the twins, it was just another day of living in hell that never gave them help and never noticed their distress. The twins exited the car with Mrs. Raystone as she led them back inside the home.

Once they got in their room, there was just a bunk bed with a bookshelf, a desk with a chair, a closet to store their clothes, and a nightstand with a small lamp. It's not enough to make them happy, but at least they got what they needed.

Judi lay on her bed on the bottom bunk, staring at the top of the bunk. It was an awful day for her, and she wanted to get some sleep to go on the field trip to TCRI.

Julian put on a shirt with a log of a restaurant and pulled his front bangs up with his ponytail. "Okay. I'm going to go to work." He told her. "Will you be okay?" He turned to her. To restore the money their previous foster family spent, Julian has to work hard to save enough for themselves and the treatment of Juid's schizophrenia.

"I'll be okay," Judi reassured him, sitting up straight. "As long as the voices don't cause me a scene."

Julian nodded. "I'm a phone away if you need me." He informed her. "Love you, sis."

"Love you too, bro," Judi replied as Julian kissed her forehead and left the room.

Once she was alone, she grabbed a fantasy book from the nightstand and opened a page she bookmarked on. She was on a page where the protagonist found a forest where fairies lived to help her with her injuries and tell of their history. Judi smiled softly, getting relaxed and calmed down.

But that calm was shattered when an illustrated picture of a fairy was pulled out of the page and turned into an evil sprite as it chuckled evilly at her. "You will never get better. You will forever be my prisoner!!" It laughed.

Judi gasped and threw the book at the wall, then she covered her eyes tightly till she didn't hear anything. Another hallucination from her illness tells her she is never going to be free.

After a few minutes, she opens her eyes and sees the book lying on the floor and the picture of the fairy back in its place. She is alone at last. She let out a sigh of relief, and the calm returned. The hallucinations are getting out of hand, and Judi is getting more scared and tired each time she sees and hears them. She rubs her face, trying not to think about it and focus on something positive.

Then she heard the ringing of a bell. She let out a sigh, knowing what it meant. It was dinner time.

All the foster teens sat in their seats in the dining hall and waited for their dinner to come. Even the foster owners are here, too, to watch over the teens in case of trouble. They are just middle-aged women dressed in blouses and skirts with their hair in buns.

Judi sat in her seat with both boys beside both her sides. She looks down, avoiding eye contact and preventing her hallucination as well. The last thing she wants is for her illness to get her into more trouble again.

Then the food came and placed it in front of the teens. On the plate are just meatloaf and mashed potatoes for dinner. Everyone started eating, and Judi began eating her meal. Even though the meatloaf is flavorless and the potatoes are bland, it's better than going hungry all night because the food lacks flavor. She looked down on her meal while eating.

She looked to her left, seeing the butter knife by her side. Her eyes show emptiness. Then she heard a voice; it sounded like it was coming from her right side.

"Pick up that knife, kill that kid by your side." The voice told her.

But Judi just turned to her food, ignoring the voice, and kept eating. She will not interact with the voices and will keep doing her activity until it is empty and she is permitted to return to her room.

But the voices didn't stop; they sounded demanding while shouting like a loud horn in her ears. "Pick up that damn knife!!" It shouted. "PICK UP THAT KNIFE AND KILL HIM!!"

Judi slammed the fork down and shouted out loud. "SHUT UP!!" She yelled to no one. "Leave me alone!!"

"Judith Miller!!" Then she heard the voice of one of the owners. The woman with blond hair scolded her. "We do not yell at the table." Her arms crossed, and she glared at her.

Judi frowned. "I'm sorry! I kept hearing-"she tried to explain but got interrupted.

"Back to your room! Now!" The woman ordered her while pointing to the door.

Judi's eyes formed tears, yelled, and got in trouble again. She quietly cried as she stood up from her seat and headed to the door. She heard an evil chuckle in her ears.

Later at night, Judi lay in her bed. She tried to get some sleep, but the voices kept speaking to her like flies buzzing close to her ears. She has her ears covered and closes her eyes tightly, anything to block the hallucination. She is done with her illness, getting her into trouble today. She wants them to stop and let her rest.

A voice shouted in her ears, through her hands. "You should have died along with your parents! You are worthless! Weak and pathetic!!"

"Shut up!!" Judi yelled.

The voice chuckled evilly. "Why not kill yourself and be rid of this awful world?!" It shouted. "And your brother will be better off without you!" The voice sounds familiar to her, a voice she doesn't want to hear.

Judi opened her eyes and gasped in fear. In her view is her father, holding a knife in his hand and grinning crazily with an evil gleam in his eyes. He approached her slowly, like a predator teasing its prey.

Judi backed away from her, only to be trapped against the wall of her room. She was shaking in fear, her heart pumping hard and sweat on her forehead. She knows it is only a hallucination, but seeing her father is far worse than her previous one. The memories of that horrible night played through her mind, her mother telling her and her brother to stay in the closet. Then she left to follow her while Julian followed her and saw their father screaming at their mother.

"I'll go after Julian next when I am done with you." Her father told Judi. "You both will be in hell with me and your mother, together as a family." He let out an evil laugh that echoed in her mind.

Judi grabs her pillow and throws it at her father, making the image of her father disappear. After that, she was alone. She panted heavily, her body shaking and sweat rolling down to her neck. Then she let out a wail, placed her hands over her eyes, and sobbed. She rocks herself back and forward while sobbing.

This is getting out of hand. They are getting much worse and more violent for her to handle, the trauma still gripping her like a sponge with no way to let it go. The foster care doesn't believe her; everyone thinks she is a freak, and she is starting to lose grip on her own reality. She may have her brother, but she is only dragging him down with her. She wishes she wasn't a burden anymore; she wishes she was dead like her parents and let her brother have a better family, and she wishes she never existed anymore. She can't take it anymore.

Judi enters the kitchen, not bothering to put on more light, as the nightlight shows enough for her to see closely. She walked past the fridge and oven; her movement was like a zombie, lifeless and empty. She no longer cares if she gets caught by the owners and the security guards. She stopped caring.

She stopped at a countertop, where a knife set was standing. She reached the set, about to grab a knife. But before she could touch it, she heard a loud voice that caused her to stop.

"Judi!! No!!" Julian shouted at her, rushing to her and pulling her away from the sets.

Once they are away from the countertop, Judi lets out a loud scream and wails out her emotions, causing her to fall to the floor with Julian holding her. The two sat on the floor.

"Judi! What were you trying to do?!" Julian questioned her with panic in his voice. "Are you trying to kill yourself?!"

"I'm tired!! I'm tired of having to deal with the voices!!" She screamed. "Of seeing my dead parents begging to join them and tired of everyone not understanding my illness!! I want it gone!! I want to be normal!! I am so weak!!" She vented her feelings, crumbling like a rock boulder going down the mountains. She pressed her face into his chest, sobbing with tears and snot.

He held her tightly and close, comforting her with soft back rubs. "I know, I know. I promised once we are out of the foster system, I will get enough money to get you the treatment you need." He was determined. "Just don't give up hope, and never call yourself weak. You are the strongest person I know."

She sobbed softly, feeling a little calm from her brother's comfort. She hugged him tightly, her only source of comfort and her reason back to reality. She closed her eyes, still shaken by her experience, and almost attempted. Then she heard the voice whispering in her ears.

"You will never be rid of me.." it whispered. Judi whimpered; as long she was still alive, it would never let her go.

Present

Judi opens her eyes and lets out a gasp as she wakes up. She pulled herself up and looked around. She sighed in relief, seeing she was back in the lair. Her headache is gone, but her head still hurts. She felt a tear on her cheek; she wiped it off and was confused.

She remembered getting a painful throbbing headache and falling on the floor right as she passed away. She rubs her head, thinking about that dream she had. Could it have been a dream? The girl has her and her brother's names, too; they both have red hair and blue eyes like them. Why does it feel so familiar to her? Like she has been there before? She felt the girl's fear and her feelings too. She was so confused about what it could mean if only she had her old memories back.

Then she heard the door open, and in came Mikey, holding a plate with strawberry shortcake and a fork. "Hey, how are you feeling?" He asked her, concerned.

"B-better." She answered, rubbing her forehead. "My head still hurts.."

"Me and Julian were worried when you fainted." He mentioned. After Judi fainted, the two took her to the medbay to check on her shell. Her shell is fine; thank god it didn't crack from the fall. She was unconscious; then they put her in her room to rest. "Have you been eating less?"

She shook her head. "N-no. I feel okay." She told her. "But now I feel horrible."

"What do you mean?" He tilted his head in confusion.

"Well..uh." She tried to come up with a response to his question. She recalls her dream, where she felt the girl's place during her vent. "Have you ever felt like you were at your weakest point? That you felt like you were losing every sense you got?"

He frowned, looking down on the floor. "Uh.." he let out a tired sigh. He placed the plate on the nightstand and sat by her side. "To be honest." He began. "When the Krang came, and my brother Raph got possessed, I feared losing the one person I look up to. And I was at my weakest when Leo sacrificed himself to stop the Subprime Krang, and I thought I was losing him." His voice began to shiver. "And..I used my mythical powers to open a portal, almost killing me. I..I refused to use it again and feared it would hurt me again."

He then pulled out one of his gloves, and on his arm were scars from his attempt on the portal. After the invasion was over, he was facing problems with his arms. They were cramping and shaking; they wouldn't stop till he was asleep. After a few physical therapy and months of wearing compression sleeves, the cramps and shaking had stopped, but the scars were still there.

She gasped softly at the sight. The scars are slightly visible but barely seemable. She looked up at Mikey, who was looking sad and scared.

He put them back on, continuing his tale. "Every night, I get the nightmare of losing my brothers, and I have to use the portal again, but only to be turned into dust." He leaned down, his body shaking. "I've been afraid ever since." His voice was soft.

She frowned at this and couldn't imagine what it must have been like for him. Almost losing your family and getting hurt from it. She moved close to him and hugged his shoulder.

"I'm sorry..and I am sorry for bringing that topic up." She apologized to him.

He looks up at her, then he slowly smiles at her as he pats her shell. "It's okay. I am getting better every day." He reassured her, which caused her to smile only a little. Then he remembered something. "Oh!"

He grabs the plate and hands it to her. "I brought you something I thought could help you get better." He stated.

"A cake?" She looked down on the cake. It was a strawberry shortcake in a triangle shape, covered in whipped cream frosting, two layers with frosting and strawberries inside, and a decorative frosting line with a strawberry on top. "I'm not sure I am allowed to eat it."

"Try it. You will love it." He insisted.

So she grabbed the fork, used it to slice a piece, and ate it. As she chews it, her eyes widen with stars in them. The sweetness exploded inside her mouth; the frosting texture was soft, the cake was moist, and the strawberries added a tanginess with the sweet, sugary flavor.

"Wow!! This is the most delicious thing I've ever tasted!!" She smiled, taking another bite of the cake and humming joyfully. "I love it!!" She then leaned over to Mikey and placed a kiss on his cheek. "Thank you for this!!"

He froze in place, not expecting her action. His cheeks turned bright red, and his eyes widened from the impact. "No…prob.." he squeaked. He slowly stood up and walked away from her, letting her enjoy the cake.

Once he was out of her room, he placed his back against the subway train. He put his hand on his heart; it hammered against his chest, and his cheeks were still red. Then he slowly places a hand on the cheek where she puts a kiss on. His mind was racing, and his heart wasn't slowing down either. He had never experienced something like this before; it was scary, new, and amazing. He is beginning to realize something he never thought could happen in three months.

"Oh..mi…gosh.." He gasped. Mikey had fallen in love with Judi.