True Love

Donnie

True Love

~Chapter 4~

Donnie

I open my eyes. Suddenly, I'm met with reddish-brown eyes. My eyes widen. I've never seen eyes like them before. I mean, I've seen blue, green, brown, hazel, even red eyes, but not reddish brown. They seem so...unusual. Beautiful. Intelligent. Amazing.

After staring into them for a minute, I realize they belong to the purple-masked turtle. He's standing over me. I'm in a small gray bed, a few bandages wrapped around my right arm where the Kraang shot me.

I blink. How am I supposed to talk to a mutant turtle?! Think about it! I scream at myself. "Uh...hi," I say.

The turtle blushes. "H-hey. You feeling any better?"

I look at my arm. It still burns like a fire's scorching through it. "Sort of." I meet his eyes. "Who are you?"

"I'm Donatello," he says. "But you can just call me Donnie. You?"

"Ann Elizabeth," I say. "Annie, for short." I swallow. "Um, what are you? And what was that green stuff on my arm from earlier? And where am I?"

"Calm down," he whispers. "Well, you're in our lair-where my brothers and I live. And I'm...a mutant turtle. And that green stuff was...mutagen-the stuff that turned me into what I am now."

"So..." My voice trails off. "I'm a mutant?" My eyes fly to my arm. It's normal, and I flop it down next to my head.

Wait...I don't remember this pillow being so...fluffy. I look next to my arm. The pillow's yellow. Wait! Wasn't it white? I slowly sit up, to see the yellow follows me. My blue eyes widen. I turn to Donnie.

"Where's a mirror?!" He hands me one, and I gasp.

It's my human self, but attached to my back there are two huge yellow bird wings. I blink twice, feeling the feathery material on my back. I swallow a lump in my throat.

"You're part mutant," Donnie whispers. "The sea green liquid on your arm was mutagen, as I said before. I was able to create a chemical that sucked up the mutagen out of your bloodstream. But unfortunately, a small portion of mutagen stayed in your body, turning you into a bird-kid."

"But why bird?" I ask.

"Well," Donnie starts. "The mutagen works like this: you touch something, and you're in contact with mutagen, you turn into a mutant version of whatever you touched."

I blink. "I did touch a yellow dove today. And I would've not loved being a mutant. So, thanks for getting most of it out." I lean forward and hug him.

"Y-you're welcome," he says. When I pull away, he smiles, showing an adorable gap in his teeth. "Hey, you said you're name was Annie, right?"

"Yeah," I say.

"Funny," he says. "You have the same name as our friend's sister. Ann Elizabeth. Did you have a sister at one point?"

I swallow. I can trust him to tell him about my past, right? "Well, I did. Her name was April, and we lived in a small house with our parents and dog. But one day, a man came to our home and broke into it. He was...covered in silver armor and blades. He killed my mother and kidnapped me. April and our dad must've escaped, but I was taken to Japan. After a painful year, I escaped and went to New York City. I've lived here since I was five." I swallow tears and look down. Donnie's hand lands gently on my back and he embraces me in a tight hug. I cry into his plastron, screaming at myself in my head. "I...I miss my sister! I wish I could see her now."

Donnie stares in my eyes. "Lucky for you, I have something that will help you feel better. Wait here." He exits and I'm left alone in the room.

Soon, he comes back in. "Ready to see someone?" I shrug and nod.

Suddenly, I see a teenage girl come into the room. She has red hair, blue eyes, and a row of freckles lay across her nose. She's wearing a yellow shirt that has the number 5 on it, and gray leggings with denim shorts over them. She gasps.

"Annie," Donnie whispers. "I'm pretty sure this is your sister, April O'Neil."

I gasp. Suddenly, I run to her and wrap my arms around her. "April! I've missed you so much!"

"Oh, Annie!" she cries into my shoulder. "I'm so happy my little sister's safe! Where've you been?!"

"In the city," I say. "I've been living here since I was five!" I feel tears spill down my cheeks as I turn to Donnie. "T-thank you so much!" I hug him tightly. "Thank you for reuniting me with my sister."

After a few minutes of April and I chatting about what has gone on in the past...years, I see Donnie exit. I turn to April.

"Hang on, okay?" She nods and I walk out of the room.

Suddenly, I slip on something. I fall to the floor in a flash. I groan, looking for the thing I slipped on. A skateboard.

I reach for it and place it by the wall, but I'm met with another turtle. The orange-masked one. He smiles at me, his baby blue eyes glowing. "Are you the girl we saved last night? You look like April!"

"That's because I'm her sister," I say. "Who are you? I'm Annie."

"I'm Michelangelo," he says proudly. "But you can call me Mikey."

"Okay, Mikey," I say. "How many of you are there?"

"There's Donnie, me, Leo, and Raph," he says. "You can tell Leo by his blue mask, and Raph by his red mask. And I have orange!" He smiles like a child. Oh, that's adorable!

"Okay," I say. "You know where Donnie went?"

"In his lab," he says. "You know where it is? I'm not really supposed to go near his lab."

"I'll find it," I say. "Thanks. By the way, cute freckles." I go down to a room which I guess is the living room. I see two sliding doors and slide them open. Donnie's in here, working on something. "Donnie?"

He turns and smiles. "Hey, Annie. Everything cool with April?"

"Yeah," I say. "I can never thank you enough for reuniting us."

"It's nothing," he says. "Anyway, we're leaving tonight."

"Where?" I ask.

"To the building we were at last night," he explains. "That human videotaped us and we can't let anyone else see us. We have to get it back."

"I can help!" I say. "I've known him for a while. Too long, in fact. And I can help get the video. Please?" I put on my best puppy-dog eyes and stare at Donnie.

He swallows and blushes. "Um, I guess. I'm sure we could use a girl on our side, besides April."

I smile and hug him. "Thanks, Donnie!"

---------------

Once we're outside, I decide to try out my wings. I haven't told April yet, but I should.

I unfold them and jump in the air. I flap my wings and I'm carried into the air. I gasp as I fly higher. "Donnie!" I yell. "Thanks for the wings!"

Donnie looks up from his running place. "Whoa!"

"Wait, what wings?" Mikey asks. He looks up. "Wow! Awesome, dudette!"

"Thanks, dude!" I yell.

"Guys!" Leo hisses. "Keep it down! We should be coming to Vic's apartment soon."