A/N: This story was inspired by Breathe Into Me by Red. It takes place after Epitaph and Turtle of the Opera. For this story to make more since the Stone Cold series should be read first. Thanks to Amonraphoenix and Darkunderworld for beta-ing for me.
Disclaimer: I own nothing associated with TMNT, but all OCs are mine.
Aching feet pounded against hard, uneven ground. Breaths came out in quick, deep gasps of desperation. This couldn't be happening; not again. Where were they? Where were his brothers? An empty lair, a single phone call, a note with a crudely written riddle scribbled down. This was his worst nightmare come back to life. Two years. Two years, three months, twenty-seven days...but who was counting?
"Leo! Donnie! Mikey!" he screamed desperately.
Nothing but silence answered him. How could this be happening? The Grim Reaper was dead; he knew that for a fact. Raphael didn't know where he was running to, or where he even was; all he knew was that his brothers were missing and someone had them. What made it worse was that he didn't have Splinter there to help him. A month ago, Splinter had passed away suddenly. They had all gone to bed like they normally did and when they had gotten up the next morning, Splinter was nowhere to be seen. Worried that his father could be sick, Raphael had gone to check if his father was still in bed, but what he found would haunt him for the rest of his life. Splinter was still in bed, but when he had tried to shake his father awake, his body had been stiff and cold; having quietly passed away in his sleep.
"Donnie!" Raphael shouted, his voice echoing through the fog. "Mikey!" There was a noise behind him and he whirled around. "Leo?" Raphael asked hopefully.
He cautiously walked through the fog, looking around for the source of the noise. He slipped out his sais and continued his search. Raphael shivered when his feet touched something cold and wet. He looked down to see fog rolling over a frozen pond. He placed his sais back in his belt and knelt down. Below the surface of the crystal clear ice he could see three glass coffins, each one holding a missing brother. Raphael was about to break the ice when a body-a human body-slowly floated face up over the coffins. Raphael instantly recognized the corpse as Derek Alfredson; aka the Grim Reaper serial killer. Raphael stared at the man's pale, lifeless face. He fell back when Alfredson's eyes suddenly snapped open and cried out as the serial killer reached through the ice to grab him.
"You will never escape me, Raphael," the man rasped out as his icy flesh closed around Raphael's throat.
Raphael shot up in bed with a hoarse cry. He looked around to find himself in his room. A violent shiver shot through his body and Raphael curled into a ball as he tried to get the nightmare out of his head. He had been having the same nightmare for the past few weeks. It was always the same, it never wavered.
Knowing that he wasn't going to get back to sleep anytime soon; Raphael slowly climbed out of his hammock and made his way out of the room. He headed downstairs where Leonardo and Donatello were sitting down watching the evening news. The volume was turned down low, but as he got closer, Raphael could hear the news reporter mention the Grim Reaper killings. Raphael stiffened when they showed pictures and video of the Alfredson trial and then photos of his victims. He placed a hand against the back of his neck where the Grim Reaper's brand had been burned.
Raphael was about to walk away when a picture of two young teenaged girls appeared on the TV screen and the reporter said if anyone knew the whereabouts of the girls to call the police. They had gone missing from their homes earlier that night and were not known to run away from home. Donatello turned off the TV and sighed sadly.
"Home is supposed to be the safest place," the purple masked turtle whispered. "But not even that is safe anymore."
Raphael remained in the shadows and kept still and quiet so his brothers wouldn't know he was listening in. Leonardo rubbed the back of his neck, his fingers brushing against the raised skin of the Grim Reaper's brand. He glanced over at Splinter's bedroom door. The door hadn't been opened in a month. They had all taken Splinter's death hard, but Raphael had taken it the hardest. He lashed out at anyone who got him angry, it didn't matter who it was; his brothers or the criminals topside. To make matters worse, it was coming up on the two year anniversary of the Grim Reaper's death, and that was still a deep, festering wound that Raphael just couldn't seem to let heal. Leonardo feared that his brother's nightmares would come true and that Raphael would end up spilling blood again.
They fought a lot more than they had when Splinter was alive. Donatello and Michelangelo could only sit back and watch; fearful of getting caught between the two older siblings. The fights had become more and more violent as well. It wasn't unusual now for Raphael to take a swing at Leonardo with his sais. The blue masked leader didn't know what had gotten under Raphael's shell to make him go so far downhill. They were all suffering a loss, so why was Raphael acting like he was the only one suffering?
Donatello yawned and stretched as he got up from the couch. "Well, I'm going to bed," he said. "Don't stay up too late."
Leonardo smiled. "Funny. I used to say that to you."
Donatello sighed. "Leo, you know if you don't get some sleep soon I'm going to have to force you to sleep."
Leonardo waved a hand dismissively. "I'll be fine, Donnie," he said, his voice serious.
"No, Leo, you won't be," Donatello argued. "Don't think I don't know what's going on. I can hear you at night, calling out for Master Splinter. I hear the sobs, and the cries that you try to muffle."
Leonardo looked away in embarrassment, saying nothing. Donatello sat back down on the couch and leaned his elbows on his knees, his eyes fixed on the floor. Raphael remained as still and silent as a statue from his place under the stairs.
"Did you know Raph's been having those nightmares again?" Donatello asked.
Leonardo looked up at his brother in surprise. "When did they start up?" he wanted to know.
"A couple of weeks ago," Donatello answered. "I think he's having them again because of the anniversary."
"Hard to believe it's been two years," Leonardo mused.
"Almost four since we became the favourite target of a psychotic serial killer," Donatello added.
Leonardo shifted uncomfortably in his chair. "Don't remind me," he said. "Mikey still has nightmares about finding you and Raph in that coffin and thinking you two were dead. I thought you two were dead."
"Sorry," Donatello apologized. "But we had to do something to save air."
"I know," Leonardo amended. "But you gave us one heck of a scare."
His eyes drifted over to the stairs when he thought he saw something move within the dark shadows. Donatello pushed himself to his feet again and headed for the stairs. Leonardo also got to his feet and followed his brother up the stairs. They parted ways at the top, going to their separate rooms. On his way to his room, Leonardo peeked into Raphael's room and found it to be empty. He sighed and hoped that Raphael would come back in one piece soon. He had to bury a father; he didn't want to have to bury a brother as well.
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