My body slumps forward and the adrenaline seems to wear off as I practically slide to the ground. The knife clanks onto the ground next to me and my foot bumps into something. It's the knocked out ninja that I was probably going to try (and fail) to kill. I kick his head away from me and slide my head into my hands.
The guy with the hockey mask on his head lets out a low whistle as he walks towards me. He leans down onto his haunches.
"You okay?" he asks, holding his hand out. I remove my head from my hands and stare at his extended hand. He continues, "we can't stay, the cops will be here any minute now, and I'm sure neither of us can explain what happened here." He's right. I take his hand and he helps me up. "Where's Raph?"
"They took him." I say numbly. I can't erase the image of Raph looking so weak and helpless, all because he was defending me. Everyone who gets close to me gets hurt. "I wish the help would have showed up earlier."
"Sorry, traffic." he kids. I give him an unimpressed look and he sighs. "Bad time for a joke, sorry. I'm Casey."
"Let's just get this guy out of here before the cops show up." I'm stoic and cold towards him, still recovering from my nerves and shock. One second I was about to kiss Raph, and the next I'm shutting off the power to our apartment and watching Raph get dragged away.
"Sure thing. Told Vern to stall as long as he can." Casey says, lifting the ninja from under his arms. He drags him to the fire escape, but then his eyes catch something on the ground and he looks at me, "uh...I think you should get rid of that too."
I follow his eyes and my breath hitches in my throat. Blood. Raph's, no doubt.
"Or...don't. It's fine, I'm sure it's fine." Casey tries to sound optimistic when he catches my expression, but I'm already heading to the bathroom to get cleaning supplies. I can't let the cops get hold of Raph's blood; they'd do DNA testing and who knows what they could find?
When I emerge from the bathroom, Casey is still by the window, barely keeping the ninja up. I head to the apartment door, shut it and lock it before facing Casey.
"Go, I'll be fine here." I tell him. He's hesitant, and wants to speak again, but I beat him to it. "Hurry."
He lets out an audible sigh. "You really don't like being rescued do you?"
"I'm my own damn hero." I mutter, making my way to the blood.
I'm basically functioning on auto-pilot as I'm cleaning the blood. Casey stays for a few more seconds but he eventually leaves, which I'm glad for. I'm not exactly in the mood to be making friends right now.
I feel sick when I'm cleaning Raph's blood up from the floor, and I can't refrain from letting a few tears escape my eyes as I replay the scene from only a few moments ago in my head non-stop. When I'm done finishing cleaning up, someone tries to open the apartment, but when they realize it's locked, there's a pounding at the door.
"NYPD, open up!" a male yells from the other side of the door.
"Crap." I mutter, realizing I didn't have time to put away the supplies. I panic, deciding to throw the blood-filled cloth and bucket filled with blood, bleach and water, straight out the window. I watch how the bucket lands in the alleyway below before my eyes find Casey's puck.
The knocking continues, louder and more urgent. "I'm warning you, if you don't open this door right now, we will be forced to break it down!"
I quickly grab Casey's puck just as the door flies open and put it in my pocket. I crouch by the fridge, pretending to be frantic as two cops enter the apartment. They look around a bit before their eyes fall on me.
"Hey, hey." They cautiously approach me, noticing my tears. One of them is young, about Casey's age, while the other looks like he could be Vern's age.
"What are you doing here?" the younger one asks while the older one examines the broken window and the trashed apartment. "What happened?"
"I-I..." I hug my knees to my chest, playing the part of innocent bystander. "I was in the bathroom when I heard a crash, like someone jumping through a window. I-I heard fighting." I sniff and will myself to cry a little bit more, which I couldn't even do when my parents died. "I stayed in the bathroom because I was scared. I came out when it was quiet, but then there was nobody. I panicked and locked the door, and...you know the rest." I don't make eye contact the whole time.
"It's okay." the cop pulls out a notepad from his belt and flips it open. He then pulls out a pen from his shirt and clicks it. "We're just gonna have to take you in for questioning."
I nearly scream. There's no time for this.
When the younger cop turns to look at the older one, he says: "You find anything?" I take this as my opportunity to stand up and make a run for it.
"Hey, wait!" the older cop yells as I sprint out of the apartment. I nearly slip as I shut the apartment door and head straight for the stairs. I don't want to take the elevator because then I'd for sure get caught. I soon hear the cops on my tail, because they're obviously faster than me, I'm lucky I got a head start.
Instead of running to the ground floor, I run to the second and make my way through the first apartment I see. Before the cops can gain on me, I run through it (it's obviously unlocked) and head straight for the fire escape. I barely take a breath before I open the fire escape window, immediately enveloped by the winter breeze, though that doesn't matter at this point.
Purely adrenaline fueled, I make my way down the fire escape and into the alleyway, nearly stepping on the bucket I used to clean Raph's blood. I angrily kick it away from me, not wanting to see it.
Panting heavily, I calm my breathing before I finally lean my head out of the alley to catch sight of the scene. Cops are questioning nearly everyone, and the entire apartment building is cornered off as flashes of blue and red lights illuminate the area. I scan the crowd for Violet, but when I see her, I see she's talking to police officers, so that's a dead end.
I let out a deep sigh. How am I going to get out of this?
Wait.
I turn around and eye the manhole, contemplating my choices before I realize it's the only one I have. I eventually head towards the manhole, using almost all my strength to uncover it. How are these things so freaking heavy?
When I head down the manhole, I don't bother to close it, it's way too heavy. I climb down the ladder and don't even flinch when I land at the bottom with a splash. As I'm about to walk, a head peaks up above me.
"You weren't gonna leave without me, were you?" Casey asks, and I can see the passed out ninja hanging over his shoulders. I let out a groan. I nearly forgot about this guy.
"No, of course not." I grumble, but he's already lowering himself down, one hand holding the foot ninja in place. I'm actually kind of grateful that he's here, because I have no idea how to find the lair. When he lands on the ground, he raises his brow at me.
"You don't know how to get there, do you?"
"I might have some clue." I say, but he lets out a breathy chuckle before I can finish.
"It's okay, Emma, I got you." he walks past me and leads the way. I dutifully follow him because there's nothing else I can do. I can set my pride aside long enough for us to get Raph back: it's my main priority. He's in danger because of me.
"So what's your relation to the turtles?" Casey asks me, giving me a side glance. "I know you're Vern's sister, but the turtles and Vern aren't exactly thick as thieves."
"No." I agree with him. "I just like them, I guess." I'm as vague as possible, but Casey doesn't push, and I'm thankful.
There's a short silence before he speaks. "We'll get Raph back, don't you worry."
I hug myself and sigh. "It's not me I'm worried about..."
