Author's Note
WARNING: This is a horror story, very different from what I usually write. It's dark. Proceed with caution.
Written for the October's Challenge of the Writer-Nexus on deviantart.
I've hesitated to take up this challenge because horror stories aren't something I usually write. I hope it turned out decent enough.
2003 turtles. I don't own them.
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Madness
They had almost done it. Almost. Another half an hour and they would have been in the clear. No harm done. No scars on their souls.
Chained up in the lowest parts of the sewers, locked up behind doors Donatello had designed himself, guarded by Casey Jones, permanently monitored by she, April O'Neil, they shouldn't have had the opportunity to cause any damage.
But they were stronger than they had anticipated, and they had broken free.
April drove madly though the night, following her GPS.
Why do humans have to be so narrow-minded? The red-haired woman thought.
Despite all the care her ninja family took to protect the secrecy they lived in, more and more humans were aware of their existence. The Foot. The Purple Dragons. Bishop's men. The people they saved and who still couldn't see more than the tall, green monsters where she saw four of the most generous, selfless beings of the entire world.
Legends, hearsay, stories of dangerous freaks living in the sewers spread.
The red spot she was looking at stopped on the map. April swore. She knew that particular alleyway, and the truck wouldn't fit in. She would have to walk.
Or more precisely, run.
If she didn't make it in time… If the irrevocable happened…
April knew she was putting her own life in danger. But her family's safety was at stake, and she was willing to risk everything she had for them.
They had almost done it. Dawn should be here soon.
They say the darkest hour is just before dawn.
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They had their weapons. It wasn't good. They were supposed to have been left in the lair before Halloween's night began.
Halloween's night. For so many people – so many kids - it was an opportunity to disguise, to meet with friends, to eat sweets.
For others, it was a night for horror. True, mind-breaking horror – unlike the fancy movies that she enjoyed watching with her extended family, that kind of horror wasn't fun.
It was grim. Harsh. Hopeless.
Casey was fighting one of them. His broken hockey mask was lying on the floor. In the shadows, it almost looked like a skull.
But April wasn't afraid of that. She was afraid of – afraid for – the three others, the ones who were facing a group of teenagers.
What were the youngsters doing there, anyway?
You should have been home hours ago, April thought, her heart pounding. Didn't your parents give you a curfew?
She counted five people. Their home-made disguises – a ghost, a witch, a dragon, two pumpkins – added an eerie touch to the scene. They reeked of alcohol, but they looked more scared than drunk right now. Scared out of their lives.
April ran to prevent that last thought from acquiring a more literal meaning.
"Run!" She shouted, launching herself between the three assailants and the humans.
The teenagers took the hint and ran away. For a second, April was afraid that they would be chased, but the three shadows in front of her had their eyes fixed upon her.
Good, April thought wryly. At least there is that.
She shivered under the white, expressionless gazes. She could see the dim light reverberating on the twin swords one of them was carrying. The sharp blades brushed her cheek, almost lovingly.
"Leo, Don, Mike," she whispered desperately. "I know you're still inside. Please keep fighting. It's almost over!"
"She's mine," the creaking voice of the one she had called Mike said, his tone dark and ominous, as he put his nunchucks back in his belt and launched forward.
No, she wanted to shout, but she had to spare her breath. Casey!
She tried to keep still as the hands closed on her neck, but her body didn't take the same view.
The creature who was Mike smiled, a terrible, crooked smile.
Please… No…
The first ray of light struck the top of the tallest building of New York City. It was a beautiful sight. It was a powerful omen.
It was the dawn of November 1st. All Saints Day.
The hands released her. She doubled over. Oxygen is such a wonderful gas.
As she took several deep breathes, relief overwhelmed her abused body.
Her family would be safe now.
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Leonardo was on his knees, his face in his hands and his katana scattered on the floor.
"April," he finally asked, raising his head.
She could see tears trickling down his cheeks, tears the normally proud ninja wasn't even trying to hide.
"April… Did we… Did I…"
"No, Leo," April immediately answered. "You didn't kill anyone. None of you did."
Raphael didn't seem to have heard her. He was looking at his sai in confusion and horror. There was blood on them.
"It's only mine, buddy," Casey told him, wincing as he grasped his right arm with the left. "Only mine. I promise."
Michelangelo rested his hand on the brick wall and leaned forward to empty the contents of his stomach.
"But I almost… I almost… April…"
"It's not your fault, Mike," April said. "It's not."
But she knew that it would take more than a few words to soothe her friend's gentle soul.
Leonardo punched the ground.
"Why can't we resist the madness?" He shouted, frustration for once obvious in his voice.
"The human psyche is powerful," Donatello whispered, subdued. "And there are billions of them. On the night of Halloween, when the darkest spirits wander the Earth and gather the feelings of fear and mistrust of so many of them, we're powerless."
Donatello looked at his three-fingered hands in disgust.
"They see us as monsters, and monsters we become."
April shook her head. She didn't want to think about what they would have to do next year. She didn't want to think about how her friends must feel on each Halloween's night, overwhelmed by the twisted psyche of those who couldn't get past appearances.
"You're not monsters, guys," she said vehemently.
"Tonight we were," Leonardo whispered in a weary tone that broke April's heart.
Later, she would remind him that they had been trapped in their own mind because of the darkest side of her kind. They couldn't be held responsible for their actions.
She knew it had been a close one. It would take time for the four turtles to come to terms with it.
But she would make sure to be there for them every step of the way.
"Let's go home, guys," she answered instead.