Hey all! This is one of my better fics (in my opinion anyway) Please tell me if you like it. Literally, just be like, "good job" or something. I'd be totally chill with that. Obviously don't lie. If you don't like it, tell me why. I'm pretty good at taking constructive criticism. Thanks in advance for reading :) Enjoy!

First of all, the New York sewer system was cleaner than I thought it would be. I mean it still smelled like death and human excrement, but it could've been much worse.

Maybe I should explain why I'm down here in the first place... It goes something like this.

I very recently moved to NYC from Montana. My Grandma died and in her will she left me this huge apartment slash house thing near Central Park, and a crap-ton of money. Pretty cool, right? Wrong. Firstly because I loved my grandmother more than word can describe, and secondly because I hate New York. I get claustrophobic just thinking about it. And there are so many bad things that happen here. In Montana, I'm considered tough. I'm a freaking piece of fresh meet in New York. It's kind of terrifying, ok? You can't judge. But my parents reeeeaaaallllyyy wanted me to claim the property, so I up and moved anyway. The law firm would've put the house on the market if I hadn't moved in. I thought, what the hey? Let's get a bunch of money from this swanky joint I will never visit. But Noooooo...

Anyway, back to my predicament. So I had gone out that morning intending to shop for groceries. Do you know how many grocery stores there are near Central Park? Basically NONE. I did not want to have to ride the freaking subway 20 minutes just so I could get milk!

Sorry. Have I mentioned I don't like cities? They really get me on edge. I'll try to calm down now.

I finally found a store relatively close to my house and picked up groceries and what-not. Brought them back home, almost got scared to death by the maid that I forgot cleaned the place, apologized, and put everything away. Then I collapsed on the couch for about two hours. Why is this relevant, you may ask? If I had slept for five more minutes, or five minutes less, I never would've gotten myself into this mess.

The sun was setting and it was beautiful. Like, get out your camera and capture it forever beautiful. I decided Central Park would be gorgeous this time of day, and proceeded to wrap myself up in shawls and gloves and boots. The early fall air nipped at my cheeks as I hurried into the Park. I was right. It was magnificent. A few of the trees had already started changing colors, while others remained a lush green. The wind seemed to calm down in the presence of such bold natural beauty. I could hear small children complaining as their parents dragged them home. I chuckled to myself. Children are the same wherever you go. Fascinated by the sky and the leaves and every other thing their innocent eyes have yet to touch. I loved that innocence. I wished that adults could share in that wonder, that joy, of discovering, well, everything. But we can't. We are destined to understand the sorrowful things in life. We hold that weight so the little ones don't have to.

I get very... philosophical, at times. Just so you know.

Anyways, by the time the sun set, I had made it about halfway through the park. I was trying to decide if I should go home or not as the lampposts started switching on. One light illuminated a shady looking dude who was probably not doing anything bad at all. He just kicked my paranoia into gear. I quickly turned on my heel and picked up the pace as I hurried home. Everything was perfectly fine, until about a street from my house. I literally just had to cross the street, and I'd be home free. But these stupid punk-ass dudes as another thing in mind. At first it was just them wolf whistling, which I ignored. When they started shouting obscene and frankly offending phrases, I gave them a glare over my shoulder. Unfortunately, this only egged them on. I swear I was sitting at that stupid light for ages! Just as it turned green, I felt the guys behind me shifting. I glanced back and they were walking right behind me, staring intently. My frantic inner monologue was pretty hysterical, now that I think back on it.

"WHAT THE FREAKING CRAP FACE TO THESE BUTT FACES WANT? I'VE ONLY BEEN HERE FOR THREE FREAKING DAYS, CAN'T YOU JUST LEAVE ME ALONE?! WHERE IS THE NEAREST POLICE STATION? I WILL GET THESE FREAKING SICKOS ARRESTED FOR BEING DISGUSTING SO HELP ME LORD!"

Oh, btdubs, I'm religious. I'll try not to have it take up too much of the story but it is a part of my life, so it'll be there.

Continuing, "DO NOT GO HOME REPEAT DO NOT GO HOME! THEY CANNOT KNOW WHERE YOU LIVE! WHY WON'T YOU JUST LEAVE ME ALONE?" By this point, I was mentally sobbing. I wanted to go home so bad, but I couldn't lead them to the only place I felt safe in this city. I kept walking, hoping beyond hope that they would lose me in the crowd, or at least pick a different target. After about five minutes of this, I realized they weren't going to give up. So I stopped in the middle of a busy sidewalk, and turned to face them.

"What do you want?" I growled. The ferocity with which I said it surprised me.

The first goon looked me up and down. "Heard you new in town. Thought you might need help gettin'... comfortable." His eyes raked across my body once more. I shuddered at his implications.

"Who said I was new?"

"Dosen' matter."

"Does to me."

"Well in dat case, you don't matter little girl."

"Excuse me?" I stepped closer, standing up straight and towering over the man. I'm 5'10' without shoes, and I just so happened to be wearing boots with a heel. In other words, I was almost a head taller than him. The short ugly guy seemed to recognize this and backed down. A few more seconds of glaring and the whole gang disappeared into the crowd. "That's what I thought." I muttered to myself, turning to continue walking. I mentally pat myself on the back because I had just staved off my first almost-could've-been-raped experience. I knew I couldn't go straight home, cause they might still be on that corner, watching. Instead I explored New York nightlife just a little. Turns out there were some good restaurants near my house. Also a few clubs and bars, but I avoid those at all costs. The bars back home aren't bad 'cause its mostly friends just hanging out, grabbing a beer. They have a very comfortable, relaxing atmosphere, without having to get anyone hammered. New York bars, in my experience, were not nearly as comfy.

So I walked around for a while, the headed back home. About two houses away from mine, I heard a dark laughter from the alleyway. And guess who it was? DING DING DING give the reader a prize! It was that freaking asshole that tried to stalk me. I turned ready to glare him into oblivion. What I did not count on was his friend. His friend happened to be HUGE. I mean, this Mexican could've gotten the role of Thor. He was BIGGER than Chris Hemsworth, and he was not looking at me like he wanted to be friends. Did I mention that he was about seven bajillion feet tall? Yeah. I almost crapped my pants right then and there.

"My boss, he be needin' some insurance from you. See, we own the block," The little guy inspected his nails while talking, "And if you wanna live here, you gotta pay homage to the man."

"Wow, how long did it take you to learn the word 'homage'? Also, isn't 'the man' supposed to be the government?" I had no idea how those words were coming out my my mouth right then, I was just thankful that my mouth was working at all. He did not react very gracefully to my comments, to say the least. He gestured to the big guy who then grabbed the front of my jacket and lifted me about six inches off the ground. Another motion and they turned into the alley, meaning I was cornered. I was doing my best to stay calm, but that's pretty hard to do when in this kind of situation. Suddenly I was dropped on top of a dumpster. Pretty sure they just bruised my butt. Big dude leaned over the dumpster, a hand on either side of me. And I realized that he had huge muscular manly arms.

"You know," I told him, "If you were not about to kill me, I'd be very attracted to you."

He chuckled deep in his throat and I couldn't decided if it was sexy or disturbing. I went with disturbing for continuity's sake.

"We're not gonna kill you sweetheart. At least not yet anyway." So the little dude with the mouth was in charge of this big guy. How the heck did that happen?

"So what do you want?" I folded my arms and stared at Mr. Pugly.

"How 'bout a thousand to start, just so we know you're good for the money."

"A Thousand Bucks?! Do I look like the kind of person who just walks around with a thousand dollars in my purse?"

He dismissed my outcry. "You can either give us the money or we can take it from you." He nodded and the big dude forcefully ripped my purse off my body.

"Hey! Give that back!"

"Why? You got some loot in there you don't want us knowing about." NO actually. I just have everything leftover from my life back home in that one bag. I wanted to tell him what I was thinking, but I knew it would probable do more harm than good, so I just glared.

"You heard the lady," A voice rang out from everywhere and nowhere and crawled under my skin, striking me to the core. "Why don't you give her back the purse, and we might, MIGHT, let you leave here in one piece."

I cannot explain to you the relief I felt when that voice said those words. I didn't know who it was and I didn't give one crap about it. I just knew that someone was on my side, and that's all I needed. The thugs were all looking around, trying to find the source of the voice.

"Is it one o' the freaks, boss?" One random lackey asked. Boss-man just growled. I took the opportunity to shove Mexican Thor in the back with my feet, making him lose balance and teeter into a fire escape. I think he knocked his head, cause he slumped to the ground and did not get up. Unfortunately, that brought the gang's attention back to me. I nervously smiled and laughed, then jumped off the dumpster and ran to a corner. Which, obviously was a bad idea. But then I remembered, I had help. I couldn't see a lot of what happened after that, cause I had hid myself behind some trash cans and I didn't dare look out. But I heard a lot of grunting and groaning and I kinda assumed the good guys were winning. And I was right, at least for a little bit. Then, somehow, my bag was flying through the air in my direction. I stood up to catch it and got a few glimpses of shadow and what I thought was thugs fighting some other dudes. Then I saw one of the good guys fall over. The leader jackass pulled out a gun, and everything froze. Panic set in and I realized that there was no way in hell that I was staying here for a gun fight. As I looked frantically around for an escape, the fighting continued. There were at least two shots fired, and that was enough to get me racing towards the nearest exit, which happened to be an open manhole cover. I paused on the ladder, thinking about my favorite boots and how they would surely get ruined. Another shot convinced me that it didn't matter. I sloshed down and was surprised at the level of cleanliness, besides the literal crap I was stepping in.

I think I could've gotten my bearings in the sewer. I probably could've even stopped gagging and figured a way out. But I needed light and air for that.

As soon as was two feet away from the ladder, the cover slammed shut over the hole, trapping me in a dark abyss that I had no hope of navigating.

So which turtle do you think spoke up for her? I want to see if you guys can guess ;)

Also, I feel like something's missing in my writing, but I can't tell what. If you have any ideas, please let me know :)