My second story and involving my own character, Karma, who I do actually own. If you haven't read Karma Is A Funny Thing, I suggest you read that before reading this so you know what's actually going on!
Birthday cake, candles and a present
I wake up for the second time in the early hours of the morning. My heart flutters in my chest, my breath comes rapidly & my mind is still etched with horrific memories. I sit up in my bed, putting my face in my hands as the last memory of the nightmare dissolves away.
It's been three months since I was rescued from Baxter Stockman's lab by my big brothers Leo, Donny & Mikey, & Raph, my boyfriend, though the term "boy" doesn't really fit him very well.
It's not just that he's a mutant turtle trained in the arts of ninjitsu, it's because, well, he's grown up. We still use humanoid terms for each other, even though we're only about half human, it makes no difference to us, we're people, mutants, turtles, we don't really care.
Looking back, all of us have had a lot of growing up to do, well except Mikey, I don't think he'll ever be classed as 'grown up'. Too much chaos has been going on for us to stay naïve, we need to remember the world is a dark place, especially for us.
Strange things have been happening the past two months. Whenever we go out training on the rooftops, there's this street gang, known as the Purple Dragons beating some poor guy up in an alleyway. Okay, maybe that's not so strange, it is New York after all, but sometimes when fighting the Purple Dragons, these ninja show up. Dressed all in black but a strange, red symbol that they wear on their left side of their chest. The symbol's hard to describe, it's a foot print, but not human. I know one thing about it, that's for sure, it's certainly not saying 'hey, we're friendly, c'mon, we'll give you cookies'. Yeah okay, my family & I are ninja, & we're certainly not normal, but well trained, real ninja stalking the streets of New York, that's even more abnormal than us.
I guess because I've realised about the danger of the world, I've grown too. There's a big change from sitting in a lab all day to practising ninjitsu. Splinter pushes me hard, but I'm glad he does. I'm not half as scared as humans as I used to be, probably because Splinter realised the more I faced them, the less I'd find them scary. Maybe there was a slight gamble involved with that, but I trust my sensei. In fact, going out & giving those Purple Dragons what's coming to them gives me some slight satisfaction. I'm not sure if that's Raph's influence or my vendetta on the human race coming through. There's only two humans that vendetta is never carried out on, Casey Jones & April O'Neil.
I might give Casey the odd playful punch if he's in one of his annoying moods, but he's got a good heart & grins, normally making a joke about how 'this chick could totally kick my ass!'.
April's even sweeter. I knew when I found out that she worked for Stockman, there was no way she'd been involved in my cruelty. I confronted her about it all the same, when Donny went to see her. I was a little nervous of her reaction, but Donny was in the room, so I knew I was safe. I retold my story to the red haired woman, & when her eyes started to fill with tears, I knew that she'd had no idea. In fact, when she stumbled into Stockman's secret lab & discovered the Mousers, it was the first time she'd even known it had existed.
Baxter Stockman. I've got a few other names for him myself, & Raph has a whole vocabulary. He's the monster that made me what I am. Sometimes I look at my own hands & hate myself, I feel it bubble inside of me. Then I start to think logically. It's not myself I hate, I never wanted to be like this, I was just some experiment of some cruel mind. Stockman is the one I hate, & he's the one responsible for my vendetta on humans. I know I could kill him all too easily, but master Splinter told me, though I may be called Karma, I have no right to start dishing it out. My name is only some sick trick created by the humans & my strength is not for killing at will, it's for protecting myself & my family.
After sitting in my bed, reflecting back on everything, I heave myself from my bed, straightening my pyjamas & running a hand through my tousled hair. I decide to see if any of the boys are awake, normally somebody's up, to take my mind off all of the terrors running through my mind.
Mikey's room is completely silent as I stand outside, no video game booms or crashes escaping it. I check Donny's bedroom too, door closed & no sound coming from within. I creep past the stairs to listen outside Raph's room, quiet snoring as usual, then Leo's room which is completely silent.
I creep down the stairs, & see a light seeping from the bottom of Donny's lab door. Smiling weakly to myself, I make my way over to his door, & knock twice. I hear wheels skid across the floor, & as the door opens, perched on a chair with wheels, smiles Donatello, the genius of the family.
"Hey Karmy." He uses the nickname Mikey first started.
"Hiya Donny, am I interrupting you?"
"No no, not at all, come on in." He wheels away, back to his surprisingly untidy desk. I step inside, closing the door behind me & sit on a stool, right next to Don. "Still having nightmares?" He says picking up a screwdriver & turning his attention to the burnt out toaster, the pieces scattered over his desk.
"Yeah, I've woken up twice this morning, I couldn't be bothered to try sleeping again." I glance at Don's laptop in front of me.
"Hmm, I'm not sure what I can do for you Karm, I've been racking my brains for weeks over this." He looks up at me with eyes surrounded by purple. "Oh yeah, April sent me an email for you to read, seeing as it's your birthday tomorrow, well," he glances at his wristwatch, displaying 1.34 AM, "technically today." I smile weakly as I start up Donny's laptop.
The 12th day of the 8th month, my birthday. I have no idea why Stockman would bother keeping track of my birthday, but he engraved it on my necklace all the same, the necklace I abandoned at his lab when I visited it with Raph.
"Will you type your password in for me Donny?" I ask my brother.
"Huh?" He looks up puzzled for a moment, then registers my request, "Oh yeah, sorry." He wheels over slightly, & leans over me to type in his password. The start up screen flickers, then changes to Don's background. He loads up his email for me, & clicks on the message. He wheels back over to his desk, picking up his screw driver once again & I read the email.
"To Karma,
Happy 16th birthday!
I thought maybe you'd appreciate an email a bit more,
I know you're still a bit nervous around Casey & I.
I just wanted to say, I hope you have a lovely birthday. I might visit you later if it's okay, I do have a few presents to give you. If not, I'll get Don to fetch them & I'll visit you & the boys some other time.
Casey told me to say happy birthday too, I think he may have got you a little something too, so he might make an appearance at some point.
Have a wonderful day & enjoy all your cards & presents,
Love April
xxx"
A mix of emotions flow through my body. I've never really had a birthday before & I've heard all these weird words batted about like 'presents' & 'birthday cake'. I shuffle on the stool & Donny looks over, slightly concerned.
"Are you nervous about your birthday Karm?"
"No, I just… I've never had one."
"We gathered as much, seeing as where we'd found you." My brother smiles kindly. "We won't make a big fuss & fluster you or anything, we'll just give you a few presents & let you blow out some candles on a cake."
"I don't know… I don't know what these things are…" I mutter, feeling stupid.
"Presents are like… things somebody gives you as a treat. Your birthday cake is just like a normal cake, like what Mikey makes sometimes, but it's for your birthday especially & you blow out candles on top of it. Candles are… hmm…" Donny thinks, then puts up one finger, dashing out of his lab. He comes back in a few minutes later, holding a purple stick with a flame flickering on the end of it. I look at it in awe & fear it slightly. "This is a candle, like what you'll have on your cake tomorrow. We had a few spare, so I thought I'd light this one to show you." He blows on it & the flame flickers, then disappears. He puts it down on his desk then smiles kindly at me.
"I don't understand why you would celebrate human things." I say quietly.
"I know you find it hard to believe us Karm, but not all humans are as dreadful as you've come to think. I understand why you find it so hard to believe, you've only encountered two humans that haven't hurt you, but it's just the kind of humans we deal with. We're ninja, we're supposed to deal with the bad ones I guess. I hope you'll understand some day."
I shuffle on the chair, biting my lip & hugging myself. Donny swivels on his chair, & goes into his drawer. He pulls out a little green rectangle & a purple bow placed delicately on top. I gasp as he sets it in front of me.
"That's beautiful!" I play with my hands, resisting the urge to touch this amazing thing before me.
"It's yours. That's what a present is Karmy." Donny smiles at my amazed features.
"But… I… What do I do?"
"That's just the wrapping paper on it, the present is inside, you have to rip the paper off."
"I'm not sure I wanna open it, it's so beautiful!" I can't resist grinning & feel much younger than sixteen. Donny smiles broadly.
My fingers dance across the smooth green shape, looking for a way in. I find a place where the paper is folded over. I rip it slightly & blue shows through. I frown & rip off the rest of the paper. I hold a blue book in my hands, a lion & two girls dancing on the front of it & in white, the title of the book, 'The Lion, The Witch & The Wardrobe'. I grin widely at Don. I put my present down & throw my arms around him.
"Is it okay?"
"It's great Donny, thank you so much!" I feel tears run down my cheeks.
"I thought you might like that, I know you like reading. I remember when you & Mikey watched the film, you loved it, so I thought you might wanna read the story. It's quite good I've heard."
"How did you get it though?" I pull away from him, looking at him in the eyes.
"April got it for me, I paid her the money for it though."
I'd heard of this thing called money, but only that it's precious & scarce around the lair. Donny is the only one to earn it, but I know he shares it with the family & we use it when we need it.
"You used money?" I frown, uneasy that he'd used that precious thing to get me something.
"Your face was worth it Karm." He smiles & I smile back.
"Thank you so much big brother!"
"You got more to come, so don't use up all your thank you's. You better get to bed anyway, it's nearly two in the morning & you've got a big day ahead of you. Mikey's gunna be your alarm clock I think, so expect to be woken up at 6 o' clock." He rolls his eyes.
"Are you coming to bed too?"
"I'm just gunna fix the toaster, so we can actually have breakfast tomorrow, & then I'll come to bed, I don't wanna be too tired for your big day do I?"
I grin & shake my head.
"I'm excited now, I'm not sure I'll sleep." I pick off the purple bow from the paper & stick it on Donny's plastron. He looks unimpressed, but keeps it on all the same.
"C'mon, go to bed."
"Okay, night Donny, thank you again!" I kiss his cheek & his cheeks flush. I giggle & bounce out of the door.
"Good night mischief." My purple banded brother calls after me. I grin & make my way upstairs, finally ready to sleep for the big day in front of me.