Red…Red…Red…..

The pain shatters the door to the conscious mind, enflaming the neurons with tides of merciless agony. The sweat dropping down his brow does nothing to alleviate the burning sensation of the knife cutting his skin. The dark expression of joy spread across the man.
The pain….The pain…..

It is a beast trampling over every defense set up to keep it caged. It runs rampage over the body with a passion born only from natural instinct.

Stop….. please stop….Stop

STOP!

Donnie woke up screaming. It took him a second to realize he was in his own bed. No man, no pain. The emotional scars have not healed. Donnie was beginning to think they never would.

Mikey burst through the door, swinging the toy sausages he always slept with like they were his Nunchaku. He looked around, half dazed, yet still moving fluidly. From between his legs slid Leo, completely awake and alert, ready for trouble. His two Ninjato in his hands, gleaming in the dim light, looked ready for a fight. Behind Mikey, stood a very dangerous looking Raph. Donnie almost laughed at the scene at hand.

"What's going on, are you ok?" Leo asked, clearly concerned.

"It was just another nightmare, nothing to worry about." Donnie replied.

"It sounded like someone was dying. I was ready to beat up anyone who dared mess with the smart and mighty Donatello!" Mikey proudly exclaimed.

"With your toy sausages? What did you do with your actual weapons?" Leo asked. Clearly irritated at his younger brother for once again, mishandling his weapons.

"Have you ever tried to eat bad sausage? It is terrible! In fact I'm thinking of asking sensei to teach me the art of Nunsausage!" Mikey dramatically spoke.

"Let me get this straight, you want to beat up people with sausages? Do I need to tell you how easy a sausage breaks? What will you make them do, eat it?" Raph chided

Looking mortified, Mikey replied:
"If I force feed the bad guys with terrible sausage, I guarantee they will spend a week in the bathroom…."

"Well, now that we got that all sorted out." Leo interrupted. "Donnie, this is the fourth time this has happened. It's been over three weeks. What's going on?"

"Its nothing. The memories hurt, that's all. The scars… they don't go away. I just imagine how it could have been if we never got out…" Donnie reminisced.

"Hey now, we got out, and we are all alive. Get some sleep and we will talk about this in the morning ok buddy?" Leo replied.

As the turtles left for their rooms, Donnie watched with amazement. In the three weeks since the incident, not a single one has dared make fun of him or even discount his nightmares. Not only that, but he cant remember the last time Raph ever acted this way. He was kind and compassionate. Something that was very unusual for him. He lay down and let the thoughts of his brothers lead him to a peaceful sleep.

Red….Red…..Red…..

The pain attacked like a pack of starving wolves on an injured gazelle. Tearing away at his psyche like he was nothing but scrap paper. He felt the searing heat scald him. His scream doing nothing to release his pain, the pain that he was drowning in.

He turned his head and tried to look at his brothers, but he could not see them.
He was alone.
Isolated.

Afraid.

He needed his brothers. As the pain surged through his body, he convulsed with the desire to escape. His screams turned into one word as the dragged on:
"LEOOOOOOOOOOOOO"

Donnie awoke in a deep sweat. The pain felt so real. It felt like it just happened. He heard the footsteps of someone running. He sat up and waited for one of his brothers to burst through the door. He did not wait long, as Mikey slammed open the door and rushed in. He was unable to stop his momentum before his foot landed on a meditation matt. Mikey slipped and crashed face first into the wall.
Behind him rushed Leo and Raph, both clearly ready for any action, but neither had their weapons.

Donnie felt ashamed, they ran to him every time. Every single time he cried out, they would run to him. He felt blessed to have such a wonderful family.
The brothers tried to console him, and one by one, left his room. Raph stayed for a second longer. Clearly he had something to say that he didn't want the others to hear.
"Listen Donnie, you know how much I care about you. I am very glad you made it out, but this is getting ridiculous. We can't keep doing this for you. I am going to have to let you go if this keeps happening." Raph said in a soft tone.
"… let me go?" Asked an astonished Donnie, "I'm sorry. It won't happen again, please don't say that. We are brothers. You guys could never leave me….. right?"
"We will no longer call you brother, because brothers are strong. They don't let things like memories impede our bond." Raph replied.

Raph walked out of the room. Donnie sat there, scared, and afraid to fall asleep. He deeply loved his brothers, but what Raph said had hurt him deeply. How can he just say those things? Did he not feel what he did? Confusion and misery took over. Donnie broke down and sobbed quietly.

Okay Donnie, time to think. Pity time is over. Donnie thought to himself.

Donnie then remembered something that threw him off. Why would Raph say that? Sure Raph could be crude, mean, and insensitive, but he never would betray his brother. He would never leave. He would never call him weak. In fact, of all his brothers, Raph was the most loyal of them all. It was unwavering and immovable. Then why would Raph say that? If he took all the possibilities and removed the least likely, the only one that remains is most likely the solution. Then it hit him. Why would Raph say that if Donnie is his brother? The solution is simple.

He wouldn't. The only solution that made sense is that he wasn't Raph. The more he thought, the more clear it became. Each of his brothers was close to their normal personalities, yet each one seemed off. Mikey was clumsy at times, but he was the fastest at catching himself. He could have easily turned his slip into a summersault and not get hurt. Leo would never have waited for the next morning to sort the problem out. He would have sat there with Donnie all night if he needed. In fact, all of his brothers would have. His brothers were not there.

The pain he felt, it all made sense. It felt so real, because it WAS real. Terror crept through Donnie's spine as he realized the cold hard truth:
He was in captivity once again.

Leo awoke again in the night. He could feel Donnie somewhere. His brother was out there, alone. He had been taken three weeks ago, and not a single brother had wasted any time. They scoured for him day and night, looking for any information they can. Raph had been tireless, going days without any sleep, pure determination keeping hi going. Even more then raph, Mikey was distraught. Although all the brothers had a very deep bond with each other, Mikey and Donnie had a very special one. Mikey had been found surrounded by unconscious bodies on multiple occasions. He had gone from gang to gang looking for information. Punishing anyone who would not tell him information, regardless if they had any. There was nothing he wouldn't do to find his brother.

All the brothers had been extra close after the first capture incident. They had all slept in the same room, spent every waking moment with each other. They were recovering by using each other as the crutches the needed. The brotherly bond slowly removing the emotional scars, and building love in its place. Unfortunately, Donnie had decided to take a walk one day, never to return. The brothers had been in full panic mode. They had torn their home apart, looking for any sign of were Donnie had been. Mikey was a wreck; he made no jokes, no smiles, and the weirdest of all, he was completely serious. It had taken its toll on Mikey, and it is what led him to find every gang member ever known in the city. He had walked straight into the purple dragons lair and asked politely for information. When Leo had found out were Mikey had went, he quickly grabbed Raph and went to rescue his brother from his own stupidity. The scene they walked in on could not be described with words. Bodies were everywhere. Hanging from the rails, piled on top of each other, and even standing against the wall. Every single one of them knocked unconscious. Mikey had one hand around a purple dragons throat, and had lifted him off the ground. He had a twisted smile on his face as he asked in a rather polite way, for information about Donnie.
Leo had never seen Mikey like this. He wasn't sure what caused it, but he knew one thing: Never take away Mikeys family. Leo felt a strange sense of pride for Mikey. He had never been super serious in training, but his pure determination to find Donnie had been unrivaled.

Leo himself had been trying hard, but he himself had still been recovering. He had gone through the most torture of them all. He had fought for every second longer, to try and stay on that table so none of his brethren had to. He still felt torn inside. His emotions were scrambled. He didn't know what to think. For once he was glad that someone else was in charge. He would gladly take a step back and let Mikey lead, he wasn't sure he even had a choice at this point.

Donnie had discovered there was a circle, a repetition, a cycle that he was stuck inside. He would be physically tortured in his "dreams" but Donnie knew he was actually feeling the pain. He may have thought it was dreams, but it wasn't. Whoever these people were that were doing this, had extensive knowledge of the brain. Donnie had decided that he was stuck inside some type of virtual reality, or rather, an artificial world. His brain saw his brothers, heard them speak, and even felt their touch, but he knew they weren't the real ones. He knew their personalities were off. Most importantly though, Donnie knew one thing:
If he could not find a way to break through this false world, he would never see his real family again.

The torture started escalating every time. Its almost as if they knew he had figured it out. His "dreams" no longer contained things he had already gone through, but knew things that he had never experienced. He felt the terrible pain crush his thoughts. His mind was garbled and numb. He could barley think. He wished for his brothers. He missed them; he wanted to see them just one more time before he died. His will was breaking; he didn't know how much he could handle. With his body screaming from the pain, and his heart breaking from his loneliness, he screamed for his brothers. He screamed for Mikey.

Mikey woke up from his sleep. A deep fire awoken inside of him, he knew what to do. He walked into Leos room and told him to get up and get ready. Even as Leo asked questions, Mikey walked out, a dangerous aura around him. Raph was just as puzzled as Leo, but not even Raph dared get in his brothers way. He was on a warpath, and Leo felt bad for whoever got in the way. Nobody was going to stop him from finding Donnie.

Nobody.