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Ch 2 Everything's not Fine
After putting Leo to bed, Splinter put away the supplies then made his way to his own room and fell into an exhausted sleep. But he found himself awake a few hours later and, deciding he would not be going back to sleep, got up to make a much needed cup of tea. As he walked past the living room, he saw the newspaper lying on the bench with the front page opened to the article he had read last night. The picture of the woman showed clearly and Splinter couldn't help but notice the woman looked almost like the one Leo had described.
The large rat shook his head and gave a light chuckle, "Leonardo probably saw the picture and dreamed it was her in our home last night." He told himself as he placed the paper in a trashcan just outside the lair. He then continued to the kitchen to prepare his tea. He sat at the table enjoying the aroma that wafted toward his nostrils and the soothing taste awakened his senses. After a moment of taking pleasure in the herbal drink, Splinter's mind again began to wonder back to last night and as his thoughts cleared, it dawned on him that Leonardo had not seen the paper or the picture prior to coming out of his room. "How could he?" Splinter muttered to himself, "I had only just brought the paper home last night after the boys had gone to bed." Splinter again shook his head, "Perhaps he had been watching the TV and saw the news."
But as Splinter continued to drink his tea, a new thought suddenly occurred to him. He quickly finished the drink and, after placing the empty cup in the sink, made his way to the living room and over toward the television. He reached his hand toward the power button and turned it to the 'on' position, but nothing happened.
"Ever since the explosion," Splinter mused as he backed away from the television, "The TV has not been working and Donatello has not been able to fix it because he did not have the necessary equipment to do so." He looked toward the room where his sons were currently sleeping. "Then how did Leonardo know about the woman?"
A sudden feeling of worry came over Splinter and he quickly made his way to the turtles' room and stepped inside. Looking around, he saw Leonardo sitting up in bed and staring, as though in a trance, at Mikey's bed. Splinter turned to look toward the bed and noticed the bed the youngest turtle slept in was empty. He looked over at his other sons' beds and noticed both Raphael and Donatello was still there and both were in a deep sleep.
"Leonardo?" Splinter quickly walked over to his oldest son and forced him to look at him, "Leonardo, where is Michelangelo?" He demanded.
Leo's eyes slowly moved from Mikey's bed to his Sensei's face, "She took him Sensei," He told him with a stoic voice, "The woman came back after you left and she took him away."
Splinter looked at Leo in shock, "Enough of this foolishness Leonardo," Splinter told him sharply, "Tell me where your brother went to."
"I'm not lying, Sensei," Leo insisted as the other two turtles finally awoke and sat up, "The woman came back and started singing to him again and then…."
"I will hear no more of this!" Splinter yelled at him, he turned to his other two sons, "Raphael, Donatello, do you know where Michelangelo has gone to?"
"No Sensei," Raph insisted, "Why, what's going on?" Donnie asked.
Splinter started toward the door, "Perhaps he woke up early and decided to go out into the sewers." Splinter mused, "It would not be the first time he has disobeyed my wishes." As he started to leave the room, he turned back to his other sons, "I have some food in the cabinets," He told them, "Fix yourselves some breakfast while I look for your brother."
Both Donnie and Raph nodded and, with a look of confusion, quickly got out of their beds while Splinter walked out of the room. After he had left, Donnie and Raph turned to Leo.
"Leo," Donnie walked over to his big brother, "What's going on, where's Mikey?"
Leo turned to his two brothers and shook his head, "He's not going to find him," Leo told them, his voice rather distant as his eyes wandered back to their door.
"Leo," Raph stepped toward him, "What are you saying?" he demanded, "Why is Splinter not going to find Mikey?" He grabbed Leo by the shoulders and made him look at him, "What are you talking about?!" He practically shouted at him.
Leo looked at his brothers with despair, "After Sensei returned from his supply run last night," He explained, "A woman came into our lair and began to sing to Mikey."
His brothers looked at him dumbfounded, "Leo," Donnie placed a tender hand on his shoulder, "Are you sure about that?" he asked gently, "After all, the last few days have been pretty crazy what with all the humans wondering close to our home and Splinter being jumpy and everything."
Leo looked from one brother to the other, he hung his head in despair and got out of bed, "I knew you guys wouldn't believe me," He said with a distant voice, "Splinter doesn't believe me and you don't either." He started toward their door, "And now Mikey's gone and he's not coming back." He drooped his shoulders shamefully, "And I did nothing to stop her." He whispered.
Raph and Donnie looked at Leo in complete confusion as they made their way to the kitchen to get breakfast. They found the boxes of cereal in the cabinet and slowly began filling up their bowls. "But I'm telling you guys," Leo continued as they sat down and attempted to eat, "I saw her," He looked from one brother to the other, "She took Mikey and for all I know she'll come back for one of us." He looked down at his cereal and let out a huff, "I hid under my covers when she came in the second time and…"
"Hold up," Donnie leaned close to his brother and stared hard at him, "What do you mean a second time?" He looked at Raph in wonderment then back to Leo, "Why don't you start from the beginning, Leo." He implored, "Tell us exactly what happened last night."
Leo nodded and told his brothers everything that had happened, "She had been singing some lullaby and when I heard her finally stop, I peeked out and watched as she picked up Mikey in her arms, he was still sleeping, and suddenly a bright light shone around them and they just vanished." Leo looked down in shame. "I tried to call out but for some reason I couldn't find my voice. All I could do was just sit there and watch her disappear with our little brother." He looked from one brother to the other. "Tell me you guys believe me," He asked desperately, "Please."
"Well," Donnie shrugged his shoulders and glanced hesitantly over at Raph, "It's not that we don't believe you Leo…"
"Really," Raph crossed his arms and looked from one brother to the other, "Cause I certainly don't believe him." He stated vehemently.
Donnie gave him an angry glare then looked back at Leo, "It's just that your story is rather hard to believe."
"Especially since we didn't wake up to see it," Raph told him, "After all, a bright light should've woken us up too," He looked at Donnie, "Wouldn't you agree Don?"
Donnie looked from Raph to Leo as he again shrugged his shoulders while contemplating the probability of what Raph had said, "I don't know Raph," He answered, "But we'll see what happens when Sensei gets back."
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Splinter stepped out of the lair and looked around the tunnels that stretched out into nothingness. As he started toward the one on his right a sudden chill like a cold biting wind flew over him and the large brown rat shivered lightly causing him to put his arms around his body. He looked back at the lair as a strange feeling of being watched suddenly came over him.
Seeing neither his sons nor any other person by the turnstiles, Splinter stood tall and, with a deep breath, forced himself to move forward. He searched the sewers for several hours before deciding he should turn back toward the lair. As he slowly made his way, he looked around and noticed he was close to where the explosion had happened and decided to check it out thinking maybe his youngest had gone that way. As he neared the area, he could hear low voices echoing through the chambers.
"So this is where she was found," Splinter heard an elderly male voice question shakily. He jumped on top of an overhanging pipe and silently made his way closer to where several people were gathered around. "Why would someone bring her down here?" The voice continued, "Why would they wall up her body in a sewer to rot away like that?" Splinter felt his heart ache as he heard the elderly man's voice breaking. He crept closer and watched as both children and young adults gathered around a man of about eighty years old, and watched as he knelt before a large gaping hole in the sewer wall and place a wreath full of white flowers against the edge of the hole. After, he leaned back and pulled out a small picture and placed it against the wreath.
Everyone stayed silent and Splinter held his breath, waiting for the humans to leave so he could continue his search for Mikey. After several long agonizing seconds, Splinter watched as a child of about ten walked over to the old man and tug gently on the sleeve of his jacket.
"Grandpa," The elderly man looked up at the brown haired boy, "What was that song you said your mom liked to sing to you before you went to bed?"
The old man smiled tenderly at him before looking back at the hole in the wall, "It was a lullaby," He told him gently, "She sang it to me before she and my father left that night I saw her last…."The old man's voice choked and he closed his eyes and forced himself to take a deep breath, "It was called 'Brahms's Lullaby'," He told them.
"I remember father," A young woman came over to him and placed her hand on his shoulder, "I remember when you used to sing it to us and hold her picture so tenderly." She looked over to another person, a male who looked like a younger version of the older man, and nodded to him. They walked closer to the hole and cleared their throats.
Lullaby and goodnight, in the sky stars are bright.
Round your head flowers gay, set your slumbers till day.
Close your eyes now and rest, may these hours be blessed,
Close your eyes now and rest, may you slumber be blessed.
The old man nodded and covered his eyes with his hands. He wiped the tears away and leaned heavily on a cane as he stood with the assistance of the two adults who had just finished singing.
"I wish you had a chance to meet your grandmother," He told them, "She would have loved you."
"And we would have loved her too dad." The young man stated. He and the woman gave their father a hug and made him turn from the memorial. "Come on dad," The young man said as the rest of the crowd followed a sewer worker down a tunnel, "Her services are going to start soon." Splinter watched as they turned from the hole and finally started walking away.
After they had gone, he jumped down from the pipe and walked over to the small memorial. He looked at the picture and stared sadly at the young woman with an eight year old brown-haired boy sitting on her lap and looking at the camera with wide smiles. With a sad sigh, Splinter put the picture back on the wreath and continued to search for his missing eight year old son.