The Sewer Stalkers (1st)

The Endless Casums

Kylee got off the plane- oi, had it been a long flight. But here she was, finally in New York City.  The Big Apple. Cluching her inhaler in her purse and knowing there were several more in her suitcase waiting for her at baggage claim, she went to freshen up. If there was one thing Kylee hated more than gas station bathrooms, it was airplane bathrooms.

In the middle of rinsing off her face, Kylee heard her phone chime.  She blindly reached for a paper towel and dried off her skin, then settled to dig in her purse.  There was that inahler she knew she would need to deal with the polution of the city.  When she finally managed to find her phone, she found the source of the chime to be a text message from her best friend, Rebecca.

Text me when you land!

Kylee huffed.  Yes, mother... Ugh I can taste the smog from here!

Her reponse was quick. You sure you wanna do this? It's one thing to think about, another thing to write about, but to actually do?

I'm offended, ye of little faith!  I know they exist, and don't worry- I already know you agree with me.

Kylee could practically hear Becca's sarcasm.  You take the fun out of everything. What does your parentals think?

Summer vet training program at NYU.  Kylee was quite proud of herself for coming up with such a scheme.  The sea of people going through JFK airport made her nausiated, but she managed to find her way to baggage claim.

Yeah...that's not going to blow up in your face at all.

Shuddup.

Becca took her time replying, which gave Kylee enough time to nab her suitcase from the belt.  'Wish you luck!  Text me later, let's hope this works...

Great confidence boaster, Bec. Later.  Kylee put her phone into her back pocket and went to go catch a taxi. As the cab driver drove her into the city, he wouldn't stop talking, Kylee just wished he'd shove it where the sun don't shine.  But very rarely did she get her way.

"Why ya in the big apple alone kid?" He asked.  In his defense, he was an older fellow- Kylee figured these encounters, however brief, was the only social interaction he had.

"Summer training program."  Kylee replied shortly.

He nodded, giving her a toothy grin in the review mirror.  "Thats nice!  What for?"

"Vet tech." She said.

"At yer age? Wow, that must be nice. Your parents must be proud." He said in surprise.  When she didn't reply, he continued.  "If my pop saw any potential in me like that as a kid, he woulda booted me out."

Kylee made some sort of sympathetic noise in the back of her throat.  At least she hoped it sounded sympathetic.  She was more preoccupied with the passing steel and concrete scenery.

"Just the fact your parents support you makes me proud to be Amercian!" The taxi driver concluded.

Kylee rolled her eyes.  How incredibly typical.

It was like that the whole trip and by the end Kylee wanted to hang herself, she was just too polite to say anything, being almost ashamed that she was terrified to disrespect adults.  Besides, he seemed perfectly content to have a conversation all on his own. They finally got into the city and Kylee spotted a manhole in a shallow ally.

"Hey! Stop here, here's good!" She exclaimed excitedly. He parked a bit farther then she would have liked, and she kept her curse words under her breath.

"You sure, kid?" He asked skeptically, throwing an arm over the seat to turn and look at her.

Kylee threw cash to him.  "Yeah, yeah. It's only a few blocks from here, I can walk."

"Funny, I don't remember there being a vet-"

"BYE!" Kylee interuppted, pushing open her door and grabbing her suitcase.  She hit the pavement before he could argue anymore, heaving for the manhole. The lid to the manhole was a lot heavier than what the made it look like on TV. There was a ladder down, so she dropped her suitcase in and climbed down, lowering the lid behind her. Kylee jumped the last step and the smell nearly over-powered her immediatly. "Ack!  Smooth goin', Ky, shoulda brought a mask..." She swallowed a bit of bile that wanted out, pulling the neck of her shirt up over her nose.  Not that it did much.  "Okay, I need a map, or I'm gonna be more lost than the city of Atlantis..."

She pulled out of her phone, texting Becca again.  If I were a map of the sewers, where would I be?

Can't be that hard!

Kylee sighed.  Oh no, not at all, it's just the sewers of NEW YORK CITY!  The smell alone could kill...

Ewww...

So am I on my own with this one?

Yeeeaahhhh... Sorry!  Text me if you get lost!

Becca?

What?

...I'm lost.

Ha-ha.  Be brave, go find them turtles!!

Yep. Kylee was chasing the fabled Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, the Roof Top Jumpers. They seemed so real while growing up, might as well see if its true, her mind had somehow reasoned. That's why her parents had to think she was at a training program- if they knew the truth, she would'nt be here.  In fact, she'd probably be in a nice, padded cell.

The lie was a half truth. Kylee was here to train, just... not as a vet tech. But if she found the turtles, she would ask to be apprenticed by one.  That was her fantasy, anyway. Becca was the only one who knew and it was going to stay like that, or Kylees mission was over.

She wandered aimlessly through the vast tunnels, getting used to the smell slowly and painfully.  Her shirt stayed firmly over her nose, and suddenly she found herself at a crossroads. "GEEZE! HOW AM I SUPPOSTED TO FIND THEM!" Kylee growled loudly in frustration.  

Her mistake was thinking that she had been the only one listening.