Scarless

It was just another evening in New York City. Car horns and the smell of fresh coffee filled the air. I was your average seventeen year old girl. Small, brown eyed, brown haired, and trying to look for a place in this world. It was 11:49. Eleven minutes till midnight.

I silently opened my window praying that my abusive foster parents wouldn't hear me sneak out. A few moments later I was out of the filthy apartment and walking down a nearby alley. I stopped for a brief moment. The clock struck twelve.

"Happy birthday, Riley." I mumbled to myself softly, only the taste of rust in my mouth.

Yes, today was my birthday. The worst day of the year. I let soft sobs escape my mouth, causing it hard for me to breathe. The thought of being alone crowded my mind. Nobody would ever want me. I was drowning in my self pity.

Just as I was about to leave the alley, I heard some laughs. I was soon surrounded by the Purple Dragons, a gang in New York City that made my life miserable. I bet they don't even remember what they did to me. It was because of them my life had no further meaning.

"What are you doing out here by yourself. Looking for so fun, hm?" One of them said in the dark shadows of the night.

I started to breathe harder. This can't be happening, this can't be happening. That sentence kept racing throughout my mind. There were about seven Purple Dragons in the alley with me.

One of them grabbed my wrist and started to pull me. I tried to fight back but my attacks were fruitless. It didn't stop until one of the dragons punched me in my stomach. I could feel the wind knock out of me. My lungs tried grasping for air that wasn't there. I felt more blows to my body. I was being kicked around for their joy.

My body couldn't take this any longer. I felt as if my heart was going to collapse. I was sore. My old jeans were filled with rips and holes alongside with my shirt. I was barely able to open my eyes but I was able to see the blood stains on my clothes and the concrete that I was laying down on. I begged for them to stop. My body couldn't take this. I knew that soon I would be dead.

"Please, st-op...." I begged them with my raspy and sore throat. It soon became difficult to sleek as I started to cough up blood.

But the hits wouldn't stop. Instead they were harder and more aggressive. I guess this is it. This is the end for me.

----

"That son of a turtle!"

His leg came on contact with the punching bag. There was a large amount of anger that surge through Raphael and into the punching bag.

'That excuse of a leader thinks that he can just push me around then he's absolutely wrong. I ain't his servant and I ain't gonna do what he says when he says it.' Raphael thought.

He kept punching and kicking the bag until there was no amount of energy left in him. He should have been the leader. He should have been the one. What's the difference between Leo and him. He's stronger than him. He has more potential. It always has to be Leo. He's the eldest. He's the leader. And what is Raph? He's just second best.

When he couldn't take being down there, he had to go somewhere else. Raph couldn't take being anywhere near Leo. Being cooped up will just make it worse. He ran out making sure that no one could hear him and walked through the sewers looking for the nearest manhole cover to get out. He knew there was one on Eastman and Laird street and went for that one.

When Raphael was out, he started to jump from rooftop to rooftop. After a while thinking about it, he didn't even remember what Leo and him were fighting about. But he couldn't let him know that. If Raph gave up on the fight to easily, he'll think he's weak. And he for sure wasn't.

Being so caught up in his thoughts, he didn't notice that he had stopped running. Raph ended up on an apartment roof next to an alley. He heard some muffled laughs and goans coming from down in the alley. When he looked down, he saw something that made him growl and be even angrier.

Some purple dragons though it would be fun if they messed around with a girl. They were beating her mercilessly and laughing at her pain. Raph saw some blood and it made him snap. He jump from the roof and onto one of the dragons. They stopped hurting him and looked at him with frustration. He guessed they didn't want to be interrupted.

"Its one of those turtle freaks. Get um!" One of them yelled out

He grabbed his sais and stared to stab them. Those insolent little bastards. Always trying to ruin someone's life just for the heck of it. It's disgusting. Raph killed every single one of the purple dragons. A smirk planted its self on his face. Now they'll never do that again. He didn't even bother picking up the now dead bodies. The good thing about being a turtle, no finger prints left at the scene.

He heard a goan and looked at the blood covered girl. She looked as if she were about to die. Damn it! Why did he always get stuck in these situations. Raphael picked her up gently and carried her bridal style to the nearest manhole cover. Her breathing was difficult. Her lungs would not allow some oxygen to enter.

He stared to run faster and faster until the entrance of the lair was in sight and quickly punched in the keycode, 8668, into the pad hidden in the wall.

He called out for his brothers as soon as he got in.

"Dude! What's with all the yelling at 3 in the morning?!" Mikey said as he came in rubbing his eyes. As soon as he saw the girl his eyes popped out and he was now fully awake. He muttered under his breath.

"Shit"

Donnie and Leo came from around the corner. Leo was in shock just as much as Mikey. But Donnie took action telling me to place her on the table in the lab.

"Leo, Mikey, go get some towels to stop the bleeding. Now!"

Leo and Mikey rushed around and came back with bundles of towels in their arms. Donnie stared wrapping her in bandages and cleaning her cuts. He was working in such a rush. During that time he didn't even notice Master Splinter come in. He guessed they were making a lot of noise and commotion.

"Raphael, when did you find this girl. Why is she hurt so badly?"

He knew could get in trouble for this. But he couldn't leave her. It wasn't because it's his moral code. But because something in his gut told him that he couldn't.

"When I was out, I found her getting beaten up by the purple dragons. She was gonna die if I left her out there."

Raph knew that his description of what happened was very vague but that's all he knew. He didn't know why they were beating her up. What's her name? Who is she? Why was she alone? All these questions were swirling around in his head. Donnie came up to him and placed a gentle hand on his shoulder.

"Raphael, I don't think she's going to make it. Shes lost a lot of blood."