Fire In Her Eyes (A TMNT Story)

The Never ending Yet Brief Longest Marathon Of My Life

Can't keep running. Can't keep running.

They're getting closer. I don't know how much longer I can do this.

No. Keep running. You can't give up. You can't let them get you.

I turn a corner. My feet are scratched and aching from cutting myself from the scraps on the ground. But I keep running.

"I see her!"

"Don't let her get away!"

I hear the whitecoats behind me. Their footsteps get closer. I run faster, almost out of breath trying to dart ahead of them. Please, don't let them get to me. I can't let them get to me.

I turn another corner. 

Raindrops prickle my skin. My heart is racing a mile a minute, the rate I wish I was running. My feet splash in small puddles, stinging the sole. My breath is ragged as I sprint through the empty street.

Keep running.

I look behind me to see my enemies bolting towards me, relentless. With them a large dogman and a funny looking walking fish. When did that happen?

It doesn't matter, I can't let them--

THUNK!!  My head connects to a hard brick wall. A dead end. I immediately slip on water and fall to the ground, hitting my head hard on the concrete. That's sure to leave a bruise.

I hear the footsteps get louder and then stop in front of me. I feel the light of flashlights hit my skin and the hair on my arm stands up. They got me. 

"We got her."

I don't look up, too scared to move. No, stop that. Put that away. You can't have another accident. Keep it under control.

I lay there, paralyzed from fear as pitiful sobs leave my lips. They got me.

A hand grabs a chunk of my hair and yanks my head up. I holler in pain.

"Did you think you could escape from us?" he seethes. I cry out as he tightens his grip.

He jerks me up and drags me to the other whitecoats, ignoring my protests.

"No! Let me go!! You can't do this!!" I screech, kicking and screaming for him to set me free. He doesn't, at least not in the way I wanted him to.

"SHUT UP!"

He shoves me to the ground, giving me no regard. I land in a large puddle, splashing my face with dirty water. 

I feel my back heating up. 

Control it.

"This is the girl you dragged us out here for?" A deep, gravelly voice scoffs. "She doesn't look like much."

"Oh, trust me, she's stronger than she looks." My breath becomes hot.

Two unusual hands, one large and furry, the other small and scaly, grab my arms and hoist me up. Tears, and some of the raindrops, stream down my face.

A whitecoat walks up to me. He grabs my chin and forces my head up. "You are ours now."

I growl and bite his hand. He immediately knees me in the stomach in response. The blow knocks the breath out of me and I hang my head. Heat fills up my face and neck.

"Put her in the truck."

Just as the creatures try to throw me in their vehicle, my chest heats up. My heart beats abnormally fast, faster than before and my blood begins to boil.

Nononononono....

Both of my arms instantly burst into flames, making the creatures holding me shriek and quickly release me. I lose my balance and fall backwards.

"She's going inferno!"

Fire shoots out from me in all directions. My head swerves as I struggle to stand up. Chaos ensues around me. Some of the whitecoats are running around, holding their now burnt faces in agony. Others run off screaming bloody murder, half of their bodies on fire.

"Why didn't you tell me she can shoot fire?!" the dog man shouts at a whitecoat.

"I told you she was a force to be reckoned with!"

"Well, get her legs!!" A Latino male voice exclaims.

My mission to stand was interrupted by the whitecoats scrambling to grab my legs. Fear that I'm about to get captured again grips my heart and more fire shoots out of my arms, scorching the whitecoat in front of me's face and setting a nearby building on fire.

No, no, not again.

Fire alarms go off and lights flicker on. I hear more screams from the inhabitants of the now burning building.

"We have to get out of here!"

"What about the girl?"

"We'll get her later. We can't be seen here. Let's go!"

"Shredder is going to kill us," the dog man says with a little fear in his voice as he jumps in the truck with the leftover whitecoats and the fish man. They quickly drive off, the tires screeching on the road, leaving me here alone in this fiery scene.

I hurriedly get back to my senses and scramble to my feet, arms still on fire. Lights from other buildings come on and doors start to open. I have to get out of here, I conclude.

So, I run as fast as I can like a crazy person away from the mess I just made, frantically shaking my arms trying to turn off the flames.

Turn off, turn off, turn off, damn it!

I take another turn into a secluded alleyway and I keep running. I run until my chest burns from heavy breathing. I run until my legs ache and start to give out. I run until I can't run anymore. And the further I run, the larger the guilt in my heart grows.

I run until I finally stop and my knees collapse from exhaustion. The fire from my arms turn off, at last, as I kneel there, struggling to breathe. I look at myself in the puddle below me as lightning flashes. My once curly and luscious hair is now in ratchet tangles falling in my face, and my brown skin is filthy and covered in mucky water. I stare at the girl in my reflection and I see a wretched, lonely girl covered in dirt and fear. With no where to go, no where to run to.

Then I sob. Loudly. My horrendous cries echoes in the alleyway, almost mimicking the thunder in the sky. 

My pity party was interrupted my a police siren. Panic takes over my body as I wildly search for a way out. My eyes come upon a manhole cover a few meters away. 

I hurry to it, pry it open and clumsily climb down the ladder. I close the lid.

Darkness suddenly surrounds me as soon as the cover seals closed. I yelp and fall off the ladder, landing in the filthy sewer water with a thud and a splash. The sound echoes down the tunnel and fear creeps in my stomach. 

I quickly get to my feet and desperately shake my hand, trying to create a fire at will to escape the darkness. Nothing happens. I shake it even harder.

"Come on, come on," I moan in frustration. 

Nothing.

I holler in fury and my wretched voice booms down the empty sewer, making my skin crawl.

I am alone. I am bitterly alone in the dark, shivering cold, wet and scared. And what am I to do? Walk aimlessly down the sewer tunnels of New York City. I hold myself tightly, trying not to cry and not to cower over the fact that I am surrounded by darkness.

My legs wobble and force me to lie down on the sewer wall. I lay there and cry myself to sleep.