Chapter 24: Against All Odds
Don was in awe with the C.L.R.C. Laboratory. Exploring was his idea of finding me
but the others had a one-track mind. It's funny how Don and I thought alike.
We both didn't care of the
circumstances as long as we got a great tour of the facility.
"Don, we need you here with us. Stop spacing."
"I'm not, Leo....." Don's eyes darted every inch of the large rooms they walked through.
Lucy stifled her sneezes as best she could, the results making her do squeaking sounds. She'd get shushed every time.
"I canb helb it."
The group ended up in the greenhouse where they just missed me by 20 minutes.
Lucy held back in the doorway, knowing her sinus would go bonkers from all the pollen.
Each turtle took a
pathway down the green plants, bushes, shrubs and flowers, checking out the beauty as well
as looking for my whereabouts. Mike stepped into something sticky.
"Eeew! What's this stuff? Blood?"
"Well, it ain't cherry juice if that's what you thought." Raph looked down to the semi-dried spot of where I spilt some blood. "Yup, that's definitely blood."
"But who's is it?" Leo came down from one walkway, overhearing the two.
Don was the one to touch it. Leave it to him.
"Could be from anyone. Whatever happened to the person, they didn't bother to clean up."
"Well, she's not in here. Let's head back in."
"Right, boss!" Raph saluted Leo. He ignored that.
"So-" Lucy sneezed once. "Any luck?" Twice. Leo backed away with a frown.
"Bless you times two. No, nothing much except some blood on the concrete." He shrugged helplessly. "I feel like we're running around in the circles and finding nothing."
"How 'bout the split up method, Leo? We'd have better luck searching in separate ways." Raph eyed to him.
Leo turned to Raph. That had some effect but it was also dangerous. If one should get caught, the others wouldn't be around to help him. Leo then turned to Lucy.
"Would you mind waiting by the front? No one's on the look-out for you."
"Nob at all. I'll check for her outside. Just wish we all had phones to stay in contact."
"We'll keep checking back here. Come on, guys."
The four broke up in opposite directions as Lucy went for the exit.
"What is it you want from me?"
"Oh, I just want you to make me proud. For once."
He rounded on me as if trying to find a place to stick a knife. To think my own flesh and blood wanted to end my life for some stupid test. Was I really that bad as a child?
"Father." I tried to keep on his good side. "Why are you
doing this to me? Bombing my apartment, hunting me down like an escaped animal.
I have done nothing to deserve this treatment you've
laid upon me. All those lies. All the murders. To find me and kill me
and for what? Do I not deserve to live in your eyes?"
He was still pacing as I kept turning to face him. Lord knows what he'll do with me now.
"In my eyes, you were an accident waiting to happen. It wasn't long before your life began, and for my wife to lose hers."
"What?" My voice was above a low whisper. "What do you mean-"
"I'm talking about a worthless child killing a woman that I loved!"
"What the hell are you talking about?!" Now, I was raising my voice. "Father, you're insane! She didn't die! I've never heard such nonsense-"
"Shut up!!" A slam of precious instruments fell to the floor as he
flung them down with anger. "God, you are so stupid to not even have realized
it then! Gloria was not your biological mother!
I never told you the truth, Jewel! You killed my beloved wife during YOUR
childbirth."
He was almost on top of me with murderous hands gripped around my neck. I cowered in the corner, sobbing uncontrollably.
"Please." My tears spilled over. "You never told me. Oh, God, I never knew. I never knew all this time. You couldn't have expected me to know.....oh, please, God.....I never knew...."
"I had my career to follow." He totally ignored my pleads and turned
away with his words hitting me hard. "I never had the chance to tell you.
I thought for sure that bitch Gloria would have told you.
The only thing she was really good for was to satisfy my deepest depressions. She
was a good sex partner." Did I really want to hear this? "We left
for England where I began attending this place
to work on my projects. My plan was to start a whole new race of creatures.
With my skills, they treated me like a god. I had the power to create new life from
dead tissue. The only set backs
were the chemicals seemed to go unbalanced. I was missing my precious notes.
Someone had stolen them from me." He looked to me accusingly. "No
matter. The codes have been found along
with the thief!"
"I never stole your goddamn notes!"
"Silence!!" A hard slap to the face almost knocked my teeth straight
out. Blood appeared on his hand which he quickly went to wash off. "If
it's one thing I could never stand, it was your pathetic
voice!!" He started to pace again, this time trying to clean up the mess he
made. All the while he was mumbling how an arrogant so and so I was and that I
should have never been conceived in the
first place. Words like that could drive a person to suicide. To him, he was
driving me to murder.
Don was in the Chemistry section. Being a scientist, he felt right at home.
He began to notice a lot of people staring at him. That was the cue to get off
the main hall and check around in different
parts not commonly used. Rooms and offices were in his direction. His thoughts
were jam-packed with things he wanted to do here on this visit. How often does one
travel this far to see a
wondrous place like this? Never in his wildest dreams had he seen so much
science-related equipment.
The workers were even noting his curiousness. How close he was to finding me and
yet his thoughts were being pulled away to do some major exploring. He checked out
rooms in session to see
what the people were up to in there. He breezed by the life foundations of the
biology section, he even went in to check out the hall of records where many names were
listed for achieving excellency
in this field. That's where he saw it. His grin turned to a dropped jaw as he
read the names along with the faces.
"William Langford?" He mumbled while staring to a serious-looking man
with yellowish sandy-brown hair. Why did that name sound familiar? Don sat
down at a near-by bench, thinking hard.
Looking around the area, it suddenly came to him. "My God. The alias
name! Her father! Jewel's father is......" He stood up to read the
sign again. It said his field in expertise was chemistry.
The Head Chief of the practices. "Could he be the boss?"
"Should he be the boss, is the question, my friend."
Don turned around to face a man he'd never seen before. Something was terribly wrong with him.
"Who are you?"
"Name's Stuart. I knew Jewel."
"What do you mean you knew her?"
"Well, let's just say, a fair price for a fair-looking girl was all it took from my end."
"Speak a little more clearly." Don approached him slowly.
"I'm somewhat hard of hearing-" In a quick move, Don got him in a
head-lock and dragged him away from anyone seeing them.
"Listen, up, scuzzball, if Jewel is dead on your behalf, I'm going to kill you
next."
"She might be." Stuart gagged under Don's arm. "But, there still may be a chance."
"How can I trust that you're not lying to me?"
"I got what I wanted from him." Stuart's voice was raspy as he tried to point to the photos. "Her father, William Langford, paid me for her to be kidnapped. I didn't want to do it but I had no choice!"
"Liar! You mean you didn't have the money! I know your type. It was a set-up for you to get a reward!"
'No. Aaaargh!" Don squeezed tighter. "I mean, I didn't want
to but they were also going to kill me if I didn't. Please, listen." Don
eased up a little. "They can't perform the experiment on her just yet.
I just came from there when I overheard them preparing for her arrival. They
can't....." He coughed a little. "......can't do it yet."
"And why is that?" Stuart just sat there gasping and panting. "Talk, damn it!"
"Because I hold the key to it all!" Stuart reached into his pocket to pull out a sapphire necklace. Don paused and stared at it.
"How did you get that? That necklace was well-hid-"
"Please! There's no time to explain. The necklace is what is needed
for the experiment. Without it, the procedure is halted, and Jewel's life is spared.
I never meant to hurt her. Ya gotta believe me
on that! This necklace contains important stuff for what my boss is working
on."
"I know it does. I've seen it."
"Let me go. I've done my part. She's not in danger now."
Don stood thinking deeply. The name. The photo. Her father's title. The Head Chief of the practices. His brain started to ignite with thoughts. Everything was fitting together.
"No, that's where your wrong. She's still in danger. When her father
came here, he had notes with him which got stolen. On the notes were a single code
for what was founded in the toxic spill
at the chemical lab. Her father may have lost his notes and you may have the
necklace, but....." He sighed as he thought hard. "The man is mad.
He wants her dead regardless of anything."
Stuart stared at Don. That was the personal matter all along!
"How did you....How do you....." Don released him and rested up against the wall. Stuart groaned and stared harder to him. "How the hell did you know about that?"
"I figured it out. Think about it. Your boss asked for her dead on
arrival. It's all that mattered to him, right?" Stuart nodded.
"Jewel said that she was wanted for death for some unknown
reason. We attempted to protect her and at the same time, figure out why.
Then, things started to click. While fixing her necklace, I found some writings that
she assumed were to a combination
for her father's missing notes. Notes that had valid information about a particular
chemical spill. Turns out, we were both wrong. Looking around the entire
locket on the inside, I sat and pondered
till I realized there were numbers and letters together. It wasn't a combination to
the notes. It's what was in the notes itself!" Stuart frowned to him.
"The boss said it was a combination."
"Possibly to throw you off. As far as I know, the notes are probably dead and buried. Which is what Jewel will be if I don't get to her."
"Wait." Stuart was taking away precious time. "What makes you think he wants to kill her regardless of anything? I know it was a personal matter, but I thought he meant the experiment."
Don paused with a sigh.
"Her apartment was bombed in order to kill her instantly. Why? Because
of an experiment? Maybe that's what he wants us to think. Maybe her father was
and is planning on something big for
her 'dead' body. To me, there's something not right about this picture. To me,
there's something else going on beyond the boundaries of science."
"What can I do to help?"
"Give me her necklace back. There's no point in you having it and it wasn't yours to begin with."
Stuart stared at it, clutching it close.
"What are you going to do with it?"
"I'll think of something. But knowing it's in good hands means the world is a lot safer from harm." Don looked to Stuart's hands, then his own. "And I know I've got good hands."
"I really didn't want to see any harm come to her."
"But money was more important." Stuart said nothing to that. Don snatched the necklace at the blink of an eye. "You'd better leave before they realize you have something of there's."
Stuart stared before turning and heading for the exit. Don placed the necklace safely in his pocket and looked around as if acting casually.
My father was growing restless of looking at me.
"Do you know why you were brought here, Jewel?"
"You wanted me dead."
"No, think of it as being reborn. To a new life. I have waited for a
very long time for this. Now, we must take of our business.
Security." Father pressed a button to get them on the phone.
"I need you to escort someone down to lab room 502. Yes, we'll be doing some
experimenting today. Uh, huh. Yes, right now. Thank you." He
put the receiver down and grinned at me.
"Jewel, we have an appointment to attend to."
"An appointment for what?" I wiped my eyes from the stinging tears.
"One that will make me proud of you."
This was it. Gas chamber. Electric chair. Shooting gallery. All seemed mild compared to where I was headed.
Don saw a group of security guards coming up the way. He started to run then,
feeling like a coward, turned to face them. They walked right by him! It
wasn't him they were after. He decided to follow
in the back to see where they were headed. More office rooms. Ducking down, he
saw the group and some familiar-looking guy pulling me out of the room in handcuffs.
"Jewel......." He uttered under breath.
Entering a dark room, my heart sank and my body began to shiver. With a flick of
the switch a low light turned on above an operating table. A tray off to the side
held many different colored bottles
and tools. A dentist would make himself useful here. I was pushed in with a
slam of the door. Father went around the table, placing a surgical mask and green
smock around him. What was he
going to do? Cut me open like a frog? I didn't like one bit of this at all.
"Do you have any idea what we plan to do?" I shook my head no.
"We here do many experiments on several specimens. Great and small.
Dead or alive. Some specimens respond to our commands,
others don't. What we do here is to see what makes things react. What makes
them do what we ask for. What makes them change to our desired form."
He paused to put gloves on so that no blood-shed would ruin his manicure. More
people in identical masks and smocks entered the room and surrounded me. They
stripped me out of my clothes
down to just my bra and underwear then placed one of those patients gown around me like a
bib. Lovely pattern of polka dot. The handcuffs were removed from my wrists.
I couldn't escape that
easily anyway. Each person snatched me and placed me down on the operating
table. I stared upward into the blinding bright light.
"It's been reported that you've been under the weather, lately. A cold flu has been discovered in your system. How do you feel now, Jewel?" My wonderful father looked over me.
"Scared." I released a shaky sigh.
"That wasn't the answer I was looking for. Your little bug might disrupt the
experiment but we'll give it a try anyway." I felt a quick jab in my lower neck
and let out a loud gasp. It got cold.
Followed by warm and numbness. "Now, how do you feel?" The pain was
so severe, I started to sob. My answer was a garble mess of groans and whines.
"Mm. This should take effect
immediately. Jewel, I want you to bend your finger for me."
"I- I...." My eyes look down to my finger. Tried as I could, the finger wouldn't respond. "I can't!"
"Mm, hmm. Now, try to wiggle your toes if you please."
My toes laid like death at the end of the table. I tried to move them like mad.
"What have you done....." I gurgled, trying to speak. "I can't feel a thing!"
"It is the first part of the experiment, my dear. That's what you will feel from here on out. Nothing."
The room was spinning. I felt myself shaking with teeth chattering. I wanted to explode.
"Father?" I asked weakly and looked up to him.
He stepped closer. "What is it?"
I finally exploded. All over him. My body jerked up and I uncontrollably
threw up in his face and lab coat. He backed away with shouts and arms flailing all
around. Everyone backed away,
all staring silently.
"Goddamn it! You disgusting brat!" I sighed heavily and fell back on the bed. I've been wanting to do that for a long time. "I can't wait anymore! Get the charts ready, now!"
My father was shouting while blindly trying to find towels. Whatever it was, it
made my entire body have no sensation from the neck down. Looking around at all the
faces, I caught someone
very different staring with soft eyes. He stood more towards the back of the room,
busily looking over the many objects on the tray. My father started to mumble with
one of them, asking my
whereabouts of something.
"Hang on, Mr. Langford. We need your notes first." One of them held the charts with a perplexed face.
"The necklace!" My father sang out with a towel wiping his face. "Where's the sapphire necklace?!
The group looked around, noticing it was nowhere in sight.
"Didn't you get the necklace back from Stuart?" That was a good throw-off. Who said that? Someone from the back of the room spoke out. A familiar voice even.
My father looked to him, thinking deeply.
"Stuart had the necklace last. Damn! You three, come with me. And you, stay here and watch her."
My father turned and bolted out the room. The other three followed slowly.
The remaining assistant walked around the table, glancing at the door. I watched him
slowly walk around me, observing
the shot that was injected into me. My vision was becoming blurry. The
assistant said nothing but came closer to the table. I sat still as he raised a
small washcloth to remove the dried blood and
vomit that stuck to my face.
"Thank you." I whispered. "You're not like the others."
"No, I'm not." He squeezed the cloth out at a nearby water basin.
"I feel like I've known you before." I cleared my throat, seeing him move around.
The soft eyes looked down upon me. "Just sit tight, I'll get you out of here."
"You will? Who are you?" My voice was very faint. The
assistant looked left to right before pulling down the surgical mask. I saw his
green smile once more. A cry escaped from my lips. "Don?"
I blinked to get the haziness out of my lids. He was still smiling followed by a
slow nod. "Oh, Don, I thought you'd never find me here."
Don reached over and caressed my cheek, his smile changing to sympathy.
"We were always one step behind you. Thank your sister in-law for giving us a small tour of England. It was luck that found me here. To you."
I whined with relief. Then realized he was by himself.
"Where is everyone? Lucy? Where's-"
Don shushed me with his hand moving to my chin.
"I can't explain it all now. We gotta go before your loving father returns
to finish the experiment." Don turned and found my clothes in a pile and
brought them over to me, pausing to see my face.
"Here, um, unless you want to leave in that gown, I'm going to have to dress
you."
I looked to my clothes, then to his reaction. It wasn't excitement, it wasn't 'couldn't hardly wait to stare at your body.' It was a blank expression.
"I guess now's not the time to be unpretentious." Don shook his head and stood there, waiting. I released a sigh. "Just don't look.....too much."
A quick nod and soon he sat me upward in his arms. I was like a sack of flour,
falling all over the place. Reaching in the back, he untied the string that held the
only garment that hid my slight
nudeness. Pulling it away, I was defenseless to cover myself. My eyes rolled
up to stare at his.
"Don-"
He looked to me, then whistled. "Wow, even the front end looks good."
"Don!"
"Okay, okay!" The tank top went over my head and through my arms.
Next came the fun part of putting on my jeans. Down again, I laid flat as he lifted
my legs up to get them up to my waist.
I glanced at his face to see if it changed. "I feel like I'm dressing a
mannequin." He said quietly.
"And when did you ever work retail?"
"We use mannequins to practice our katas with. None of us find it appealing to battle with a naked person so we dress them, even if they are dummies."
"So, I'm like one of your dummies?"
"Nah." He rubbed my smooth skin slowly. "You're like a
porcelain doll." I smiled to him. Aww, can he say the right words or
what? The jacket was hard to put on but he felt I needed it.
"You feel hot. Guess that wacko dad of yours did diagnose something
right." I nodded to him. He caught my eyes glazed over. "God,
you're a mess. I can't believe they've done this to do."
"I can't believe I'm still breathing." I watched him moving around the room with a quick but quiet pace. "How are you getting me out of here? Pushing the table to the exit?"
"Remember when we met at Yellowstone? This will be like old times."
"Just don't drop me." I gurgled.
"I promise I won't drop you." Don winked to me while placing on my
boots. Boy, I've heard that line before. I watched him with worried eyes.
The first time this happened, I was blindfolded,
gagged, tied at the wrists, and heavily drugged. Now, I was weak, nauseous, and to
top it off, incapacitated. Sitting me upright again, he placed my arm behind the
collar of his coat.
"Don...." Came a panicked tone. Turn the Merry-Go-Round off!
"It's okay. I'm not going to drop you." That's not what was
worrying me. The movement was making me want to vomit! Soon, I was up in his
arms; my body feeling incredibly heavy to him.
I could see the look on his face change. My other arm hung loosely at the bottom and
my legs swayed carelessly. "Do me a favor, Jewel." His voice sounded
strangled.
"What's that?"
"Don't fall asleep." I started to speak but was silenced. "I'll explain later. Just do as I ask."
The hall was quiet for the moment. Thank goodness. We were both hoping to
find the others soon and get out of this madhouse. But, it was a very interesting
madhouse. Minus my psycho
father and his evil schemes, I could see myself working in a place like this. My
eyes would blink every so often, fighting to stay awake. What was wrong with
sleeping? I was incredibly
exhausted. People stared at the strange sight of us. Don kept the odd surgical
attire on over his own clothing. He was a bulging mess of material while, me, a
filthy girl who looks like she
needs a shovel and six feet of earth above her head, was in his arms.
Here's where the pain came. Our luck went down the tubes.
"He's not around here. I already checked the far side-" My father stopped in mid-sentence when we ran into him. "You! What are you doing?! Stop!"
Don gulped and backed away, turning to run as fast he could. I was being jolted all over, feeling another wave of nausea coming up.
"I'm gonna be sick again, Don."
"Well, can't you hold it?"
I swallowed. Ugggh! I wish I could put my hand to my mouth. Turning
down a long hall, he spied Leo coming up the way. "Leo!" He said in
a loud whisper. Leo recognized me right
away but glared to Don strangely.
"Don? What are you-"
"No time to explain! We've got to find the others before the whole security team hunts us down." An alarm started to blare overhead. "Too late."
Leo started to run and talk. "I don't know where the others are. You'd need a map just to find your way out."
Guards came up the way with guns pointed to Leo and Don.
"Freeze! Stop right there!"
Leo's hands flew up but Don backed up behind him to get me out of the line of fire.
As the guards approached, Leo quickly flew up a foot to kick the gun out of one's
hand. The other was stunned and
unprepared as Leo swung an elbow to drop the other gun from reach. Don stood by
watching with helplessness. More guards were coming up aiming at Leo since I was in
Don's arms. That told us
to run the opposite way. God, all this running. Make it stop.
"Where did Raph saying he was going? Or Mike?" Don panted the hardest.
Leo answered by shaking his head. "Lucy's outside at the front. That's where she said she'd stay." He started to pant hard, too.
Bullets bounced off their shells as they ducked the streams of gun fire. More
people were watching as the cops were screaming at them to stop us. They weren't
about to interfere. They were
more scared about getting shot and also ducked for cover. The bullets separated us
from Leo. Where'd he go?! He slipped out of my sight.
"Damn it! Where'd Leo go?!" Don was thinking the same thing I was.
Mike looked around on the far side of the building, hearing about an announcement of intruders in the area.
"All units report to Sector 5. This is not a drill."
"Why not send out British Intelligence while they're at it?!" Mike thought to himself as he ran over to Sector 5.
Raph heard the same announcements echoing in the hallways. People looked all
around the room then to him as he started to run past them. Halting with a skid, he
paused to see security running toward
him. He cursed under breath while the guards ran by. It wasn't him they were
after, though, he did seem suspicious-looking. One guard turned around to get a
second look. Raph was already gone
from sight.
"Whatever it was, it sure as hell wasn't human." William mumbled to a guard while running. "It has my daughter, so it can run too far."
Don was getting weak from holding me. I could sense his arms were getting tired. Strong as he was, even he couldn't hold this much weight for long periods of time.
"I hope we find one of them soon, Jewel."
Leo came from out of nowhere after disappearing just minutes ago. The greeting
was not so pleasant. I felt plastron against plastron followed by some loud
groans. Did I scream? I could barely
hear after the painful impact. I just knew my broken nose started to bleed
again. Small drops of blood were on Leo's chest.
"Oooof!" Don puffed out a breath.
"Ut-yaaaah!" Leo backed away, blinking twice. Don did the same as the two gawk at one another. "Don!!"
"Leo!" They both blinked rapidly. I stared at one another.
"Great! I see you two have met! Now, move!" I had to keep my humor up with them.
Don looked down at me then shoved me into Leo.
"Here! Take her!"
"Wha-" Leo flew back from the unexpected weight but caught me surprisingly. I grinned weakly to him.
"Hi." Was all I could think of.
Leo smiled back as he and Don started again on a hot foot. We turned down one
area and ended up back to where we started. I recognized the offices. Guards
were standing up against the wall
to wait for commands. Immediately they fell to attention once they laid eyes on me
and started heading our way.
"Damn. Backtrack, Don! Backtrack!" Leo put it in reverse as Don followed in suit. Again, we started to run and fell into someone else.
"Mike!" Don screamed.
"Don!" Mike yelled back. Here we go again. "Where were you guys?"
"Just keep move- awwwww, jeez! Lookout!" Now, the action came.
Leo ducked down while Don and Mike kicked down three guards coming our way.
Leo fell to the ground on top of me.
Mike lost his balance and doubled the weight over Leo.
"Leo......" I muffled.
"It's okay. You're okay." He breathed out. Yeah, right! I'm being trampled by huge turtles! I was not okay! "Mike, take her!" Leo rolled me out of his grasp toward his brother.
"Huh? Why?" Mike lifted me into his arms. I grinned again.
"Because 'M' comes after 'L'!" I joked with a cough. He backed away as Don and Leo finished off the rest of the guards. "Mike..." I coughed again. "I feel so sick!"
"Ohhhhhh, nooooo!" Mike shoved me back to Leo whom was busily handling a guard. "Now, I know why you gave her to me. Uh-uh! I just took a shower this morning!"
"Mike-" Leo was cut off as a guard slammed a right hook into him. Leo backed away, then slid his foot under to trip him.
In my dazed state, I could see someone coming up the way. He walked slow and steady but I knew who it was from way back here.
"Raph...."
Mike looked over. "Raph!" Running over to his brother, my whole body was jostled. "Look! We found Jewel! Here, take her!"
"Um..." Raph stared at Mike. Lastly, I was passed into his arms. "What, she can't walk?"
Mike shrugged. "Apparently, not." He started to run back to help his brothers. "Careful, she might throw up on you!"
Raph looked down with disgust.
"Don't drop me." I begged.
"I won't-" He felt something cold press against his head. "-drop you." Followed by a clicking sound.
"Don't move." The voice said behind him. It was my father with several guards! "Put her down, and step away."
"Don't Raph!" I whispered.
"Don't listen to her! Do as I say or I'll blow your head clean off!"
The other three paused to look at the scene. Raph stood motionless with me slowly
sliding down out of his arms. A sudden movement from the trio caused the other
guards to aim their guns in their
direction. They froze in their tracks with hands up. The area became dead
silent. It seemed like time stood still for a brief moment. It was up to Raph
now. If he didn't release me, I'd fall anyway
and he'd be in a heap next to me. Dead as a door nail.
"Okay, I'm putting her down-"
"Put her down!"
"I'm doing it! I'm doing it!" Raph looked to me sadly and laid me on the floor. "He's gonna shoot anyway."
"Wha-"
The gun went off. I screamed then looked up, expecting blood-shed. Nothing!
Raph had already left me on the floor and was gone! Looking around, I heard
shouts and kicks followed by
more gunshots going off in my ears. Dear God, what was going on? Closing my
eyes, the sounds continued to play in my mind over and over like a broken record.
Sounds of terror.
The screams. It was deafening to hear it go on without stopping. Opening my
eyes, I saw my father hunched over me.
"Look what you've done, you horrid brat. I can see why the experiment should have been fulfilled. No one ever loved you, Jewel. I always knew you were a mistake."
That was the last words I heard before getting dragged away and seeing him fall over in
a heap. Bodies littered the floor everywhere. Where were the Turtles? I
could barely see a thing.
My eyes were burning from the tears. I looked around to see my body was cradled in
someone's lap. The room was still spinning all over.
"Didn't I say I wouldn't drop you?"
The voice came from above my head. Glancing up, I stared into a blotchy, green face drained of all it's energy. He forced a smile down upon me.
"Don?"
"Who else, sweetie?"
My eyes rolled up into their sockets and I passed out in his embrace.