"She wants to go home, but nobody's home
That's where she lies, broken inside
With no place to go, no place to go
To dry her eyes, broken inside.."
-Avril Lavigne

———————————

"I told you I would get the money, I just need more time!"

Sarah lay in her childhood bed, awoken from a deep sleep by her fathers alarmed voice rising through the household. Her drowsy emerald eyes shifted to the bedroom door, wondering what all the ruckus was about. That's when she saw her older brother Andrew crouched there, ear pressed against the door crack.

He glanced over, seeing she was awake and slowly rising from her position on the bed. He put a quick finger to his lips, desperately trying to get across she needed to be silent. Nodding slowly, she let her sock covered feet his the wooden floor without a sound, and made her way over to him carefully.

She tried to listen too, but could only make out a few things. Her father owed someone money.. and they weren't happy about the fact he didn't have the full amount. Even though she was only six, she had noticed they had money problems. They mostly ate rice for their meals, sometimes if they were lucky they would get ground meat mixed in, but that was usually reserved for Friday's.

"I gave you an extra month, Roger. Times up." There was a pause, then the same mans deep voice echoed through the home.

"Burn the place down, with them inside it."

Suddenly her mother let out a blood curdling shriek of terror, and Sarah took a step back from the doorway, her eyes wide with alarm and panic.

Andrew, however, remained calm. Instead of freaking out, he pulled her from the doorway and towards their bedroom window, whispering that they needed to get out. He opened the window quietly, lifting Sarah by the underarms.

"Hey, they got kids in there!" Someone yelled from down the hallway.

This is when she saw the panic form on his face, and she knew that whatever was happening, it was bad. Andrew never let anything scare him. Anything.

"Sarah," he whispered. "You have to get out of here. Head for the trees, and don't stop runnin'. Don't look back. You keep runnin' til you hit the highway, and you flag down a car and you tell em what's goin' on. Got it?"

The little redhead nodded, her heart slamming in her chest. Why was he talking like he wasn't coming with her?

She didn't get a chance to ask, because he then shoved her out of the window full force, enough to cause her to hit her head on the ground below. It was dark outside, so it took her a moment to get a grip on her surroundings, before she remembered what Andrew said.

Darting for the trees, she had every intention of doing what he said. Leaving, getting to the highway, getting help. But just as she reached the trees, a light shown from behind her, and on instinct she turned around.

It had been their bedroom light, and now there were two masked men in the room with her brother.

"Ah, make that one kid!" One of the guys yelled down the hall. They hesitated, and she knew they were waiting on a command, and once they received it, they turned back to Andrew.

Lifting the muzzle to his shotgun, the one who spoke didn't hesitate to aim it at her brothers face, then pull the trigger.

Sarah shot up on the old couch she was currently laid on, her entire body riddled with sweat from the nightmare. It was more of a memory, but a nightmare nonetheless. Her green eyes shot around wildly, trying to get ahold on reality, and come out of her dreamlike state.

The first thing she noticed, oddly enough, were old school arcade games. This was enough to momentarily throw her off guard, before she glanced down, noticing the thin grey blanket placed over her figure, and that she was wearing someone's white T-shirt, that was obviously a few sizes too big on her. Thankfully, her shorts were still on.

Then a smell over took her- it wasn't strong, but it was there, like sewer water.

She felt confused. This wasn't a hospital, nor her motel room. The last thing that had happened was she was surrounded by those men in the alley way, then-

Sarah froze, her heart slamming in her chest. One of them must have taken her home with them. Her stomach turned, bile rising in her throat as she only began to imagine what they did to her while she was unconscious. The bile forced its way back up, and she realized she needed to get to a toilet before she made a mess all over herself.

Jumping up, she realized she didn't know where to go, but ended up charging in a random direction.

That's when she froze, because she heard multiple voices.

"I'm telling you guys, this is a bad idea. April and Casey are special exceptions. We can't just start bringing random people down here!"

Sarah paused, the bile falling as curiosity took over. Taking a few silent steps towards the doorway where the voices were coming from, she strained to listen to more of the conversation.

"Oh, Leo shut up. She was dyin'!" This voice was different from the first, with a heavy Brooklyn accent that sounded a little too familiar.

"At least we thought she was. When I looked her over, she didn't even have any wounds aside from the concussion and shoulder being knocked out of place." This voice was different from the first two, sounding the most level headed.

"What are you saying, Donnie?" The first voice, again.

"What I'm saying is, that blood she was covered in wasn't hers. Those dead guys we saw? I don't think the Purple Dragons did that. I think those were Purple Dragons, and I think she killed them."

Sarah felt her heart sink with pure disappointment. She had completely forgotten about that. She tried to avoid killing, at all cost, but it was what she had been trained to do, and sometimes it was all she could do if she needed to defend herself.

Shaking the thoughts away, she reached the edge of the doorway, daring to poke her head inside and see exactly who was talking. And when she did, it took everything in her to keep from screaming.

They were- turtles? Large, humanoid turtles, with masks, and weapons. They stood in what seemed like some sort of medical lab, all of their arms crossed as they stood talking to one another. Sarah felt her head starting to spin, her legs growing weak.

"Yo dudes, she's finally up!"

This voice sounded from behind her, and the three turtles in the room all spun around at once, eyes wide as they realized she had been standing there.

"How did we not hear her walk up?" The one in the blue mask asked, seeming utterly confused.

Her mouth went dry, and she wanted to scream, but the panic inside her kept her vocal cords frozen. Daring to turn around, she made eye contact with a third turtle, who was grinning at her behind an orange mask.

That must have been all it took, because in just a few seconds the redhead was once again unconscious, hitting the ground, and her head, once again.

"I have that affect on ladies," Michelangelo joked, awkwardly rubbing the back of his neck.

A/N: Sorry this chapter is a little short, I'll try to make it up with the next one. Leave some reviews please and let me know what you think! Good or bad. They help keep me motivated to continue the story.