the ripple effect - tmnt (1) [edited ✔]

vi. purple and blue

 six. purple and blue

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FLORENCE WOKE UP SLOWLY. Her head was pounding and her neck sore, as if she had been frozen in a crooked position for hours straight. 

Her eyes slowly opened. 

She saw a brick ceiling. There was a damp, humid smell in the air and there was a strange heat around the room. Florence was sweating strangely. It felt like it was summer when really, it was snowing in New York.  

Florence tried to stand only for a headache to rip through her skull. She cupped her forehead in a failed attempt to stop her brain from swooning. She was eventually able to sit upright without having the urge to topple over. Her eyes flickered across the room, studying. 

The room was like a Japanese-themed loft that she had once seen in a magazine. It was fairly simple: no pictures or statues or decorations, just a bed with a nightstand that held a lone candle. 

There was a dresser across the bed with a small bonsai at the top. The lack of windows was unsettling and Florence's only light source was the flickering candle beside her. 

Even the door was rather plain. In fact, there wasn't a door at all. It was the typical Japanese-style entrance; the whole wall was made of paper and the 'door' was a sliding door in the center of the wall. Japanese caricatures and Cherry Blossoms decorated the whole wall.

Florence held her right hand to her neck and her left arm against her stomach as she walked to the paper door. She did her best not to break out in a fit of tears at the pounding in her head, yet no matter how hard she tried, a few tears managed to slip out and glide down her dirty cheeks. 

She sniffed and gently grasped the bamboo handle with shaking fingers. 

She slowly opened the door, her eyes constantly flickering from one corner to the other in search of any identical robot-men. 

There was a pit that had a step that acted as an all-around couch while in the center was a boxy TV. It was playing a rerun of a TV show that Florence happened to like as a little kid: Space Heroes. 

Turning her head, Florence saw that next to her was another room, similar to the one she was in. The door was closed and there was no sound, save for the flickering silhouette of a candle. 

Florence looked ahead and saw a kitchen with an island in the center and a table with seven chairs next to it. 

She took a careful step forward but froze when he felt a sharp sting in her arm. She glanced down at her arm, eyes widening when she saw the hole from the needle.