The trip to the junkyard had been both challenging and tedious but had also been well worth their efforts. Donatello and Raphael had nearly filled the moving van with items they could salvage for use in their new home, or repair well enough to be sold in April's shop.
With the extra cash they received from those sales, the small mutant family could purchase the things they could not scrounge. It was a big step up from their existence pre-April O'Neil.
Of course with Karai still on the warpath, despite being warned off by Leonardo, leaving the lair to go on any sort of supply run was more dangerous. Hence the reason for trying to pack something into every spare inch of the van.
Leo and Michelangelo were waiting for them when Don and Raph pulled into the service bay of their newly acquired reservoir pump station home. The bay was not as convenient to reach as the garage at their Y'Lyntian lair had been, but it was definitely more secluded and more spacious.
When they had decided to begin their new salvage enterprise, Don had been able to block off some of that extra space into a large storage room, which their father had greatly appreciated. Before that, the junk they collected tended to spill over into the living area of the lair, leaving it much too cluttered.
As Don set the parking brake and shut off the engine, Raph leaped out of the van and ran around to open the back.
"Wow!" Mikey followed that utterance with a whistle as he surveyed the van's contents. "You guys made a haul."
"We hit two different junkyards," Raph said. "The Professor sends his greetings."
"Are the Foot staying away from him?" Leo asked.
"He hasn't seen a patrol in two weeks," Don said as he joined them. He passed a small bundle of comics over to Mikey. "The Professor said these are to help you get your collection started again."
"Sweet!" Mikey exclaimed, pulling the twine off of the stack of comic books.
Leo reached over and set his hand on top of the comics. "Work first, comics second. We need to unload the van and get this stuff sorted out."
"Okay," Mikey said agreeably and set his comics to the side. "Find anything good?"
"A few things actually," Don said. "There's a lot of stuff here I can use for parts. I even found a shredder that April could use in her office."
"Dude, don't even say that word," Mikey said.
"What word?" Don asked.
"Shredder," Mikey replied with a wink.
"Get to work chucklehead," Raph said as he began hauling things out of the back of the van.
A couple of hours later the van was unloaded and the items they'd collected were sorted out. Some went into the storage area, some things were moved to Don's work area, and a few items were taken into the lair.
One such item was a large rectangular mirror in perfect condition. The mirror's frame was made of wood, etched in an elaborate pattern and covered in what looked like gold sheeting. The top sported an array of flourishes surrounding a cherubic face crested by a stylized fleur-de-lis.
There were no nicks or scratches on any surface of the mirror or its frame, nor was there any discoloration. Other than some dust, it looked as though it could have come directly from the showroom floor.
Don saw Leo studying it and walked over to him. "I thought this would work in the bathroom."
"It's a little . . . fancy for us, isn't it?" Leo asked, though the design fascinated him. He ran a hand across a section of the mirror to see beneath the film of dust. It was cold to the touch and he wondered if the temperature outside had dropped.
"We can always turn it over to April for resell later," Don said with a shrug. "Next shopping trip I'll look for a replacement. The small sliver of mirror we've got mounted over the sink right now isn't working for us."
Remembering the shoving match Raph and Mikey had gotten into when they were both trying to see in the mirror while brushing their teeth, Leo chuckled. "You have a point. This has to be a knock-off, right? It can't really be an antique or it would never have been dumped at the junkyard, especially in this condition."
"Who knows why humans do things," Don said. "Maybe they redecorated and this didn't fit the style of the week. Come on, help me hang it up."
"That thing is creepy," Raph said as the pair walked past him.
"You should stop watching horror movies with Mikey," Leo said.
Raph grinned. "Ya' wanna know what'd be even creepier? Mikey's reflection in that mirror."
"I heard you!" Mikey called out from his spot on the couch. "Don't think I'm sharing my comic books with you after that comment."
A moment later there was a shriek as Raph barreled over the back of the couch and landed on his little brother, who just managed to pull his comic book aside to avoid damage. Ignoring them, Don retrieved the tool box from his work bench and went with Leo to hang the mirror over the sink in their bathroom.
After Leo dusted it off completely and Don had mounted it on the wall, they both stepped back and eyed the mirror in its new home.
"I guess it's not too bad," Leo said grudgingly.
Don chuckled. "Gives the room some class. At least it's large enough so Raph and Mikey won't be elbowing each other for a spot in front of it."
"I just hope Mikey doesn't find a way to break it," Leo said as he moved towards the door.
"If he does, I'll make sure he has seven years of bad luck," Don responded as he shut off the bathroom light.
Though it was nearing midnight, the brothers were too wound up to sleep so when Mikey suggested a movie, they all agreed. Master Splinter had left for the Nexus the day before, planning an extended visit with his friend the Daimyo, which left the turtles to their own devices.
Their father had made it clear, as he usually did, that Leonardo was in charge. It was the first time since Leo had returned from training with the Ancient One that he'd been left with sole responsibility over his brothers.
As they sat together in the darkened living area watching the horror movie Mikey had chosen, Leo looked around at his brothers. They had changed as much as he had. Each of them seemed more self-assured; more mature. Raph wasn't fighting Leo as much over his decisions, instead choosing to discuss in a calm manner anything he disagreed with. Don remained a bastion of stability, though less prone to mysterious projects that kept him up for days and away from his family.
Mikey was still his light-hearted, effervescent self, still the dreamer of the group, but he'd grown in many ways. He was more focused now and much more reliable. The potential that Leo had always seen in him was starting to show itself, and Leo couldn't be more proud.
For Leo's part, he had learned that as a leader he couldn't and shouldn't micro-manage his team. He knew their strengths and weaknesses and it was his job to utilize their skills to the best of his ability. Once he had set his team out on the playing field, he had to trust that they would do what they had trained to do.
Leo stifled a yawn and straightened in his chair. His private ruminations had taken his attention off the movie and he'd lost track of the plot, but he hadn't been that interested in it to begin with. He wasn't there for the movie anyway; what he enjoyed was spending quiet time with his brothers. Especially Mikey.
A surreptitious glance towards his youngest brother showed Leo that Mikey was totally engrossed in the movie. He was leaning forward, his mouth open in an 'O' of excitement, his eyes wide.
When Mikey enjoyed something, he enjoyed it completely. It was the way that Mikey embraced life and everything about living that had always captivated Leo. Even when Leo was wallowing in his darkest moments, questioning everything about himself, letting guilt and self-recriminations weigh him down, Mikey had understood what he was going through.
Was it any wonder that Leo's feelings for Mikey were changing? Leo drew in a shaky breath, glad that the movie sound track was so loud and that soon to be murdered girl number three was screaming her head off. Maybe it was time for him to turn in, before he made some other sound that would have his brothers asking questions.
Slipping out of his chair, Leo left the living area without drawing anyone's attention. His mastery of stealth had many advantages, one of which was avoiding questions by making an unseen exit.
Having been raised in the darkness of an underground world, Leo didn't need to turn on any lights as he made his way downstairs and into the bathroom. He didn't bother with the lights in there either; enough was coming in from other parts of the lair to guide him to his toothbrush.
Leo could just make out his own reflection in the new mirror as he brushed his teeth. It was odd how the small amount of illumination in the bathroom seemed to have found the cherub's face, making it stand out in the dark. Almost as if it glowed.
Frowning slightly, Leo leaned forward for a better look at the cherub. It would be pretty tacky if it was actually made from some of that glow in the dark stuff like the sticker array on Mikey's bedroom ceiling. Leo could understand someone throwing it out if that was the case.
Shaking his head, Leo washed his toothbrush and put it back in the holder before filling a cup with water and rinsing his mouth. Spitting into the sink, Leo straightened and glanced in the mirror.
A shadowed figure stood directly behind him.
Dropping the cup, Leo drew his sword and spun around. As he did, Michelangelo came through the door.
"Whoa dude!" Mikey exclaimed, hands up.
"Mikey?" Leo asked, sounding confused.
Reaching for the light switch, Mikey flicked on the overhead bulbs. "Yeah it's me. Who were you expecting?"
Sheathing his weapon, Leo said. "Did anyone come down with you? I could have sworn I saw someone wearing a top hat standing behind me."
"As far as I know, none of us even owns a top hat," Mikey said, giving Leo an odd look. "Never knew a horror movie to freak you out like that bro'. Is that why you left before it ended?"
"No, I left because it's getting late and the movie has the same plot as two of the ones you made us watch last week," Leo said.
"That's only because you have no appreciation for cinematic nuance," Mikey said loftily.
Leo chuckled. "I suppose that means you'll have to be the family media connoisseur."
He headed towards the door and Mikey walked out with him. "You going to bed?"
"Yep," Leo answered. "I want to get an early start tomorrow."
"You always do," Mikey said. "Goodnight bro'."
Leo bade him goodnight and entered his bedroom. As he prepared for bed, Leo thought about how to him Mikey's tone had seemed slightly wistful. Maybe that was just Leo's own wishful thinking; a vain hope that Mikey wanted his company.
With the bedside lamp turned off, Leo's room was plunged into darkness. Unlike the Y'Lyntian lair where crystals embedded in the walls and support posts gave them a certain amount of light, this lair was nearly black as pitch when the electricity was off.
Leo lay in his bed thinking about that as he recalled the shadow that he'd seen reflected in the mirror earlier. He was not prone to flights of fancy nor did he have Mikey's overactive imagination. Most likely the shadow was formed by low light bouncing off of a combination of bathroom items. That would certainly explain the top hat, Leo decided with amusement.
His mind turned to other things then and he was soon asleep.
When Leo woke, he did so with a jolt. Remaining completely still, he tried to sort out what it was that had startled him to wakefulness. He was certain it wasn't a sound because that would not have made him feel so alarmed.
It was the sense of a presence, the feeling that he was not alone, that had pulled him from his slumber.
Without moving, Leo slowly scanned the room. A human would have found the darkness completely impenetrable, but to Leo every dark space had varying degrees of blackness. It took him just a moment to find the spot that seemed different.
What he saw wasn't so much a tangible form as it was a blurring of a section of his room. That space seemed to vibrate with an energy of its own.
Leo was out of his bed in a split second, his hand sweeping down to grasp the hilt of one katana, pulling it from its sheath.
"Who's there?" he demanded, holding his weapon out in front of him.
There was no answer. Leo did not take his eyes from whatever it was he was perceiving to be there and when it did not move, he slowly approached it.
The room seemed to grow colder the nearer he got to the shadowy thing. In the darkness, it was hard to tell how close he was to it, but he'd taken about six steps when the shadow shifted towards him.
In a flash, Leo swung his katana. His weapon did not connect with a solid mass, but there was a slight crackling sound, then the grip on his sword grew almost unbearably cold.
Spinning away from the shadow, Leo dashed towards the light switch and flipped it on. When he turned back, the room was empty.
Leo stared at the area where he was sure he'd seen something. Moving towards it slowly, he reached out with one hand but whatever had been there was gone. What he did feel was a leftover coldness in the spot where he'd perceived the shadow.
Not usually spooked by the unexplained, Leo nevertheless kept one light on for the remainder of the night. As he struggled to go to sleep, Leo's mind wrestled with itself, trying to come up with an explanation for what he'd experienced.
A number of ideas popped into his head, some logical, some fanciful, but eventually Leo fell asleep without settling on anything other than he needed to talk to Donatello in the morning.
Since Leo was the first to rise the next day, he made a sweep of the lair looking for signs of an intruder. He couldn't fathom how anyone would get into their home undetected, but their safety depended on the security of the lair. The figure he'd seen in the mirror might have been nothing more than the play of light bouncing off of objects, but what had happened in his room wasn't so easily explained away.
They had thought the Y'Lyntian lair to be spacious, but the pump station was vast. The previous lair had only two levels, if one didn't count the garage, but the pump station had four levels and a number of 'rooms' that were the size of their old garage.
Master Splinter had one such space for his bedroom. Leo didn't like to go in there when his father wasn't home, but if there were an intruder, it wouldn't do to leave that area unsearched.
The room seemed to be empty. It felt even emptier without Master Splinter's presence. Someday . . . .
He wasn't sure if his brothers had ever considered what their lives would be like without Master Splinter, but Leo had. His father often alluded to it when he and Leo talked. It was buried in the advice he gave his oldest son, the reminders that Leo had to hold the family together. That he had to keep them safe. That the burden lay on his shoulders. That when their father was gone . . . .
Leo shook his head to push that thought away. A quick turn through his father's room proved that no one was hiding there, but before he left Leo stopped in front of the small pool that flowed into the center of the room. There was another larger pool that cut through the center of the lair.
They had not explored either of these waterways as yet, but they had to be considered as avenues for gaining entry to the lair. Why someone would swim through tunnels of water in order to enter their home, traverse the lair, and then merely spend their time watching him sleep was beyond Leo.
Laughing at himself, Leo left Master Splinter's room. He was being paranoid and now thought he knew why. His father wasn't home and Leo was letting the added responsibilities get to him. Leo hadn't even faced any real challenges yet and he was already his own worst enemy.
Leo glanced at the pool in the center of the lair, the sound of the moving water barely noticed by his family. They were used it; maybe because they had a pool in the old lair, or because they were turtles and being near water was second nature.
He'd have to talk to Donny about taking an exploratory swim. They really did need to know where . . . .
Something darted in front of him and Leo jumped, his hand sweeping up for his sword.
"Hey!" Mikey yelped as he came out of the kitchen. "How about we don't skewer my cat."
"Klunk?" Leo looked around but didn't see the small orange fur ball anywhere.
"Yeah. What cat did you think I was talking about? It's time for his flea meds and he doesn't like it," Mikey said, holding up a small narrow tipped vial.
"Oh. Good luck finding him," Leo said.
Mikey frowned. "Dude, you sure are jumpy. Didn't you get any sleep?"
"Some. I lay awake thinking about lair security," Leo told him. It was partially the truth, but he didn't want to share the other thing with Mikey. He'd rather not have his youngest brother think he was nuts or imagining things.
"Uh huh," Mikey responded knowingly. "Master Splinter's only been gone a couple of days, Leo. Wearing that worry hat too tight is gonna cut off circulation to your brain."
"Am I that obvious?" Leo asked with a smile.
"Pretty much. Wanna help me find Klunk? I figure with the second best ninja in the house helping me look for him, we can flush him out of hiding quick," Mikey said.
"Second best? Who's the first best ninja?" Leo asked.
"Me of course," Mikey answered. "I am the Battle Nexus Champion."
Leo could only laugh. He'd known very well that Mikey would respond to his question that way. Raph and Don found Mikey's references to his Battle Nexus win annoying, but Leo felt a measure of satisfaction each time Mikey reminded them of his achievement.
By the time they located Klunk and Mikey applied the flea preventative to the very unhappy cat, both Raph and Don were up and moving about. In the last couple of years Don had acquired a taste for coffee, no doubt part of April's influence, and his first stop was always the kitchen.
It was only after Don had imbibed of his first cup of liquid eye opener that Leo sought him out for a conversation. Mikey was spotting for Raph as he lifted weights and Don was in his work area, looking over some of the items from his latest junkyard excursion.
"Hey, Leo," Don said in greeting. "I'm keeping this blender. It's ugly as shell, but it works."
"What's wrong with the blender we have?" Leo asked, stopping across from his brother at the work table.
"Mikey," Don replied. "Need I say more?"
"No," Leo said, chuckling. "Want me to speak to him?"
"Would it do any good?" Don countered.
"Probably not," Leo said. "Don, do you have a minute?"
Setting his screwdriver down, Don gave Leo his full attention. "Sure. What's up?"
"Is there any chance that something could get into the lair undetected?" Leo asked.
"What do you mean, 'something'?" Don's brow furrowed.
"An intruder," Leo said. "Anyone, not necessarily the Foot."
"You said something, not someone," Don said. "You aren't one to be careless with your words, Leo. What gave you the idea our security might have been breached?"
"Let's keep this between us for now, okay Donny? I thought I saw something in my room last night," Leo said. "It was dark, so it was more a sense that there was a presence. I got up and approached the area where I thought it was and it moved, but my sword only touched air. Cold air."
"Are you sure it was a presence?" Don asked. "Did it have form?"
"Not really," Leo said. Grimacing, he added, "I thought I saw someone behind me in the bathroom earlier. A figure wearing a . . . a top hat. That's all I could make out because it was just a shadow. Mikey turned on the lights a second later and nothing was there."
"Was this during that lame movie Mikey had us watch?" Don asked with a knowing look.
"You sound like Mikey," Leo said. "That movie did not set my imagination into overdrive. I wrote it off as the shadowed combination of bathroom objects. I wouldn't have thought about it again if not for my experience later on."
"Were you sleeping at any point before you felt that presence?" Don asked.
"It woke me up Donny," Leo said, emphasizing his words. "I got out of bed and it was still there. I wasn't dreaming."
"I'm not suggesting that you were," Don said. "Not in the literal sense anyway. It's possible to become so immersed in a very vivid dream that parts of it cling to the subconscious even after we've awakened. There's a term for it called threshold consciousness."
"I would think if I were prone to that sort of thing, it would have happened to me before," Leo said. "It never has. None of that explains the cold spot in my room, or the fact that whatever my blade passed through made the metal so cold I could barely hold onto the sword."
"You've never felt a cold spot in your room before?" Don asked.
"No. Listen, Donny. This lair is big. You found a place to park a helicopter! Isn't it possible there are ways to get in here that we haven't secured yet?" Leo asked.
Don looked thoughtful. "I don't think so. We all did a pretty thorough search after we moved in here. Besides that, I've got motion detectors scattered all through the tunnels surrounding this place. There are cameras inside the lair too. For someone to get to your room, they'd have to go past a camera."
"How often do you review the footage?" Leo asked.
"Every day. It doesn't take long because they're motion activated," Don said. "I haven't checked yesterday's footage yet if you want to look at it."
"I do," Leo said.
"Okay, come on." Don led the way to the area he used as an office and motioned Leo into his desk chair. It took only a minute for Don to set up the footage from the day before and once it started to play, he went back to work.
The recordings were exactly what Don had described. There was one for each of the cameras in the lair and they were looped back to back. The only thing Leo saw on the camera with a view of his room was family. No one else and nothing else entered or left.
It was while Leo was viewing the area nearest the bathroom that he saw anything out of the ordinary. The time stamp on the footage showed that it occurred sometime after Leo had turned in for the night.
Klunk squatted on the bottom riser of the staircase, facing the bathroom. His tail was down, fur bushed, ears flat and back on his head. Nose scrunched, Klunk's mouth was open, his fangs showing and even without sound Leo knew he was hissing at something.
Leo stared without blinking at the entrance to the bathroom but saw nothing. Because Klunk did not move for several minutes, the camera stopped filming. The next frame started a quarter of an hour later, when Klunk spun around and scurried up the stairs.
Rewinding that recorded section, Leo leaned forward and watched Klunk again. The cat definitely seemed alarmed at something he was seeing, but whatever it was hadn't been caught on camera.
"What the hell are ya' looking at?" Raph asked, suddenly appearing next to Leo.
Caught by surprise, Leo jerked back and then immediately felt foolish. "The security feed from Don's cameras."
Raph gave him an odd look. "Damn Leo, ya' nearly came out of your chair. What's going on?"
Before he answered, Leo glanced past Raph to make sure Mikey wasn't around. He wasn't sure why he felt the need to shelter his younger brother from what was probably nothing, but he did.
"Last night I thought I sensed a presence in the lair," Leo said. "In the bathroom and later in my room. Don suggested I check the recordings from his security cameras."
"What do ya' mean, a presence? What kind of presence?" Raph demanded.
Leo explained his two experiences to Raph and then waited for his brother to process the information.
"Did ya' see anything on the cameras?" Raph asked, tipping his head towards the monitor.
"Just this," Leo said, spinning back to the keyboard and punching up a replay of Klunk's behavior.
Leo was relieved that Raph hadn't immediately scoffed at him. If it had been Mikey who had relayed such odd experiences, all of his brothers would probably have discounted his tale out of hand. It was a bad habit they'd gotten into and something that Leo decided he would stop doing right away.
When the replay had run its course, Raph shrugged and looked at his older brother. "That didn't show anything but Klunk acting the way he does when he sees a big rat," he said. "Some of them sewer rats are as big as he is."
"I would have thought the same if it weren't for what happened in my bedroom," Leo said.
"Then let's check your bedroom," Raph said. "Don't know why someone would sneak in and just stand there staring at ya', but if there's a secret way inside, we should find it and seal it up."
Raph tended to be very practical and he always approached a problem head on. Leo had to admit that his brother had a point and together they went into Leo's bedroom.
"I encountered whatever it was over here," Leo said, showing Raph the space where he'd seen the shadow.
It was no longer cold and the brothers began their search, checking the walls for hidden doors and the ceiling for access panels. Finding nothing out of the ordinary, they finally stopped.
"There's nothing here Leo," Raph said. "Maybe the intruder came through the door and the cameras didn't pick him up 'cause of some glitch."
Leo was grateful that Raph wasn't making fun of him and was taking the situation seriously. He just wished he had some proof to support his sightings.
"My cameras are fine," Don said, entering the room. It was clear he'd heard the last part of their conversation. "I run routine diagnostics on them. I take it you didn't see anything on them and haven't found any hints as to how someone could have gotten in here?"
"The only thing the camera caught was Klunk hissing at something that was probably a rat," Raph said. "We just checked and there's no way in here except the door."
"Then let me offer this by way of explanation," Don said. "It's what I said before about threshold consciousness, or hypnagogia. Usually people experience it during the transition from wakefulness to sleep, but it can occur during the period where someone isn't fully awake. You said this has never happened to you before Leo, and I believe that. But this is also the first time Master Splinter has been gone since we moved into this new lair and since Karai attacked and destroyed the last one. The stress of feeling like you have to be constantly alert could be keeping you from getting the deep sleep you need. That would certainly account for a hypnagogic state."
"Could have been Karai ya' thought was in here," Raph said. "She sure is a cold bitch."
As much as Leo hated to doubt himself, he had to admit that Don's explanation was preferable to an actual intruder making it into the lair.
"You're probably right. I have had a lot on my mind," Leo admitted, thinking about his youngest brother. That made him ask, "Where's Mikey?"
"Cooking," Raph said.
"He's been hooked on improving his culinary skills since we moved in here," Don said.
Raph chuckled. "Mikey says he's exhibiting his artistry through the science of gastronomy. His food is edible and that's all I care about."
The remainder of the day passed quietly enough. Not another word was said about what Leo had thought he'd seen and he soon forgot about it as well.
That was until he decided to turn in early and catch up on his sleep. This time Leo flipped on the lights in the bathroom as he went about his business of preparing for bed. His mind was on Mikey as he brushed his teeth and then rinsed. He only glanced into the mirror after reaching for a towel.
There was frost around the edges of the glass. As Leo watched, the ice crystals began to move inward and a cold blast of air hit his face.
TBC….
