She dreamed the same thing some nights. She dreamed of darkness and loud howls of pain. She was crying, she remembered but she didn't know why. Distress. The screams of pain and animalistic snarls blared in her eardrums. All she could do was cry out, pleading for attention and that warm embrace if she remembered correctly. Yes, there was someone else but there wasn't a face. Just a deep masculine voice and a warm body.

Now it was gone.

Blood. The screaming was gone now. All she could smell, taste and see was blood.

However, it was only a dream. An odd dream that left her pondering for minutes before finally opening her eyes to her own darkness. It was early morning, the dull light came through the sewer grate in their lair which served as their clock and safety. Light was bad, she learned. The light meant bad things and sparked fear into her family.

But she was curious of the light.

She looked away and sighed.

Her eyes were already fixed to adjust to the dark but being alone was something unsettling. Where had the others gone? She stretched quickly and got up from the nest of dirty blankets and flat pillows. As she neared the entrance of the lair, she could hear the commotion. A large fierce growl escaped the largest turtle, its claws swiped towards one of them, batting them away from what looked like a fresh kill. The smaller turtle whined and ducked his head, escaping his brother's attack and scurried away on all fours. The smaller turtle smelled the familiar human and quickly ran to her.

"Scared scared!" The freckled one whimpered.

She knelt down to level to him and grabbed him to comfort him. His tail tucked in as he sat besides her and roughly nuzzles against shoulder. "Hey, it's alright." The girl said.

She looked back over to the larger turtle who was now curled around what looked to be a dead raccoon. He wasn't interested in sharing. The green eyed turtle huffed and grabbed the meal into his large jaws possessively.

"Where are the others?" She asked.

Her question was immediately answered when she heard the sound of heavy footsteps and sharp growls. Two more turtles emerged from the distance. One of them carried a something large while the other galloped happily beside the other. The lanky turtle redirected his interest to the larger turtle, earning a fierce 'back off' growl which he quickly obeyed with a small whimper. She saw the large animal to be a dead dog in the other turtle's mouth.

She let go of the youngest to stand and glare at the dull blue eyed mutant. "Where did you get that?"

The turtle skidded and stopped half way before he could hear her and turned around. He knew he was trouble. The lanky one looked guilty too.

"You went to the surface, why don't you listen?" She angrily barked.

The turtle dropped the carcass and paced away from it before laying down on his plastron facing her. They should know better not to go to the surface, especially right now after the last few nights of sloppy hunting. They couldn't hunt bigger prey right now. They would get caught. She gave them all disappointed scowls before walking back into the lair. They all quickly followed, their breakfast not forgotten.

She was worried. She always feared that surface people would find them. Their hunts were getting to reckless and nearly exposed them. That's why they hadn't eaten well in days. It didn't stop them from traveling up though. She guessed they really didn't understand the true danger. They rarely could because of their limited knowledge of speech. She couldn't really understand some things herself but she knew danger.

The lanky turtle always brought back something interesting to show her. Sometimes it would be books or toys or clothes for her. He brought back several smaller books but they had no words in them. They were blank while another had numbers and words she couldn't read. Sometimes she would pretend to understand and make up stories. They soon caught on once they saw her with the book and gathered around her.

"Uh.." She mumbled with a small smile. This only had numbers and a few small words. She pointed to one of them and tried sounding it out. "Ffff...feeb- ararely-"

"What that?" The eldest asked.

"I, uh, I don't know. Maybe it means something with numbers?"

"One two three?" The freckled one piped happily.

"Yes. One two three."

The lanky turtle turned the page and pointed to another word. "March!"

She nodded and chuckled, "Yeah. I think you're right!"

"What next?" The larger one asked. He brought his nose close to the small book curiously and tried to lick it. She booped him on the nose to get him away. She turned the back at his request and tried to sound out the new word.

"Ape..rreell.."

"What that?"

She shrugged, "I don't know. I don't think this is a book."

The freckled turtle got closer to her and nuzzles her thigh, "I like that one. I like that."

Their stomachs were still empty, not quite full for a comfortable nap or even rest. Spring was already here and the turtles were more aggressive and hunted a lot more than during the winter. It was hard. It was like keeping together a pack of tigers and keeping them from eating. They get angry. Good thing she already had experience.

For a long time, she believed she was one of them. She couldn't remember anything else but the turtles. They took care of her even when they were still young themselves. She was a little younger than them but she knew he was different. She was more like the surface prey but not really..

She ate the surface people, like her family, so she really wasn't like them. And these small rats and other rodents weren't going to be enough to keep them going.

She was usually the one that helped with the hunt by the dull blue eyed turtle was the true leader. He was more stealthy, a silent killer that already knew all the tricks but he still made mistakes. The only problem was that he was sometimes too confident or cocky. He didn't speak much but she already knew how to read him through his body. He liked to show off and impress. Though she knew he could trust him to get the job done.

The larger turtle was more the brute strength. He was muscular and rough around the edges. He wasn't big on listening either, it goes double when he's hungry. He was a protector and often challenged the 'leader'. Sometimes she thought that she was the only thing keeping the green eyed turtle calm. There was no calm when everyone is riled up. It would be like getting in front of a angered wolf.

The lanky turtle wasn't as strong or out going as the rest. She didn't think he would be able to hunt on his own because of his size. What he didn't make in strength, he made in brains. She knew he was smart, she saw it while the others didn't really understand him- in general. He wasn't as aggressive as the others, didn't fight or hunt on his own.

The smallest turtle, the freckled one was the speed. He was the energized bunny. Like his lanky brother, he wasn't big on strength though he was determined and often bit off more than he could chew. She always had to keep close watch on him or else he would run off. His attention was easily diverted if they weren't careful. Though he was creative and colorful.

And her...well, she liked to think of herself as the bait.

"Help help!"

A large man turned towards the direction of the cry with wide eyes scanning around. He quickly crossed the street, holding on to his baseball cap from the heavy wind and began his search again.

"Hello?" He called out.

"Help me!"

"Where are ya?" It was dark, the alleyway was only lit up by a dim back light from the jewelry shop a few buildings away. Something in his gut made him hesitate but a small shrill cry of pain made him jump. "Woah! Where are you?" He hurried into the darkness to find the girl.

"Please, help! I'm over here!"

He couldn't see a hand or a body or anything. He ran towards the dumpsters, checking above them to the side when he finally saw a little girl huddled to the wall. She looked..fine?

"Why are you -"

She caught the action in slow motion in front of her. The eldest turtle leaping downward from the fire escape, his arms out and his claws sinking into the man's chest in a tight hold as he collided with him. He latched on to him easily and sunk his large jagged teeth into the man's neck. The man screamed and lifted his shoulder, blocking his teeth from reaching the critical point.

Another body few in to join, the youngest brought the human and turtle down on impact and tried biting into the man's face. His teeth dug into his cheek, blood rushing and spilling at the deep gash but it wasn't a killing blow. The man elbowed the eldest right on the beak, making him reeled back and whimper in pain.

The man was screaming in terror as he fought with the freckled mutant that was still trying to claw and rip his face apart. Luckily, before the man could get up the large turtle tackled him and successfully bit into his throat. His jaws easily covered his entire neck, she could see the blood rushing from his mouth as he broke into the throat and chewed.

The lanky one joined in timidly and watched from a distance, unsure of whether or not to help.

The eldest was still distressed over the blow to his nose, he shook his head and snorted loudly. They were rarely hurt on hunts.

"Come here." She said, beckoning for him to come behind the dump and away from the entrance. He crawled to her, showing her his bloodied nose though it wasn't that bad and it certainly wasn't broken. She gently rubbed the blood of him and patted his cheek.

The man had gone still after choking and gasping as the turtle kept his jaws locked on to his neck. He grind his teeth, gnawing through bone and flesh before he began to shake his head violently. He was shaking the body, trying to rip the head clean off its shoulders but it only made more of a mess.

"Come on, inside, hurry!"

They pulled open the manhole cover and disappeared with their fresh kill.

She watched them fight over the hunt, pulling apart bits and pieces as they carried the meat to the lair. She followed them with a smile on her face and hungry stomach. She wished every night was as smooth as this one.

Glass shattered behind him and he quickly set the infant down into the crib to protect her. He turned, facing the beasts with wide frightful eyes and an open mouth from a silent scream. He reached back into the crib to grab his daughter but his fingers only grazed her small fingers as he was tackled down to the ground and devoured by the mutants alive. He screamed in pain as they ripped into his body, feeding and letting him suffer. He heard the screams of the infant, loud wailing from his bloodcurdling howl.

The small freckled mutant stopped feeding and climbed on top of the crib curiously and looked inside. The baby cried, wanting to be carried and reassured that everything was alright. The mutant tilt his head and jumped into the crib with the screaming human. Blood soaked him and stained the sheets as he crawled to the baby and sniffed.

Every instinct in him told him to eat the infant but he didn't. Instead the turtle put his bloodied finger into her mouth in an attempt to silence her. She quickly took her and began to suckle, tasting the copper blood of her father and making soft hiccup noises. She closed her eyes and fell back asleep. The noises of the others feasting on her father no longer bothering her.

A/N: Leave some feedback if you want me to continue.