Author's Notes: Hey everyone, I decided to release the second installment a bit earlier than I originally planned. I've just been typing away in between doing school work and other things that call to my attention. Compared to my first ever fanfic, I feel like my writing has improved greatly and I want to thank all of my readers and followers for supporting me so far. Anyways, I'll let y'all get reading. Enjoy ^.^
The sun crept up the horizon, chasing the night away. Orange streaks lined the sky and light shone through the cracks between the buildings. Standing a dark alleyway, Raph and his siblings stared out into the street.
"This is where I lost them." Pointing a finger out towards the intersection, Raph said gruffly. "I was turning the corner of this building and then it was nothing. I assumed they went that way from the tire marks." Then trailing his eyes down, he pointed towards the skid marks turning left. His voice was heavy with guilt.
People began to spill out into the street, making the turtles crowd in the shadows. "The sun is rising, so don't wander out into the open." Leo ordered in a hushed tone.
April wasn't going to have it. Shrugging off his order, she grabbed Casey by his jacket and pulled him along. "Well Casey and I can try and find clues, since we are humans. Why don't you all follow from above?" Her blue eyes burned with determination.
They all gave slight huffs in agreement and climbed upwards. Raph skillfully leaped onto each fire escape level. His anger towards his brother's captors boiled inside him as the scenes played over and over in his mind. Each replay made him even more bent on making the humans who took his little brother pay. "He better be in the same shape they found him in or they'll regret it!"
Standing alongside Leo, his attention snapped back into focus. Revenge would have to wait until they could actually locate where they took him. Raph folded his arms across his plastron and leaned forward to watch the two below.
Failing to keep steady, Donnie's muscles quivered in shock. As Rook put pressure behind the blade, she gracefully made one quick swipe down his finger. The pain shot up his arm, causing him to instantly jerk his fingers into a fist. He refused to make a sound.
Her eyes glowed with malice at his attempt to defy her and in retaliation she made a swift cut across his cheek. This time, he gasped out at the sudden strike. His red blood continued to spill from his large finger, creating a pool under his hand. The same could be said about his face, as it began to ooze down the side of it; the scarlet red substance warmed his cheek.
"Hmm, you're warm blooded. How interesting." She said coyly as she rubbed her chin with her free hand. Using the eyes of scientist, she studied his facials and decided that she didn't get enough data.
Once more, she lifted the scalpel and placed it on the top of his hand. "I punish those who defy me, you know. You my little pet, continue to do so." Rook's lips crept into a smile as her voice lowered. "Be thankful I'm giving you special treatment. Now, shall I put a tag on you?"
Without warning, she took the instrument and dug strokes into his already bloody hand. He tried to bare it, but his own throat disobeyed him. As she made each line in his hand, his voice screamed out, tearing his vocal cords. Soon her own hands were covered in his sticky blood and she showed no signs of ceasing.
Donnie could already feel the effects of blood loss. His screams became weaker as his strength was seeping away from him. Eventually, his muscles stopped shaking and he decided to not fight it. "This is nothing…I've been through worse." With a heavy breath, he whispered out in agony.
"Oh really? I would love to hear more about it as I carve into your shell. You've obviously been trained to fight and I want to know so much more about you…my little pet." In a sign song voice, she said as made another carve in his thick green skin. The sounds of his cries felt like music to her ears.
April's eyes trailed the marking in the road. Casey was further up while looking for any other signs of disturbance. He was also determined to help Donnie, since the two of them became good friends over the last few years.
However, April worried for him. She knew how cruel humans can be towards things that were different. Using her mind, she tried to reach out for his signal, but with no avail. With each careful step, she followed the blackened marks until she was next to the vigilante.
Throwing his arms up in defeat he let out a groan of annoyance. "April, can't you do your weird mind senses to find him?" Scrunching up his face, he rubbed the back of his head.
The question struck a nerve. Throwing her hand in the air, she placed her other one on her hip and angrily replied "I've been trying to do that, Casey! It only works if they are in the area, which obviously he's not." Then she proceeded to rub her temples. "Ugh this is not good." She thought to herself.
Casey backed away from her, afraid of her hot temper. "Okay Red, chill. Let's try and see if we can find any more of the same tire marks in the area."
Silently, she nodded and split away from him in search. Above, she could see her friends' disappointed faces. Her face gave them an expression of sympathy as she turned away to search. Raph decided to follow her lead while his brothers split with Casey.
"Oh Donnie, I hope you're alright…" She whispered to herself.
The world seemed dark and quiet around Donnie. His focus was dazed and he had no sense of time. His body throbbed and ached, while his mind felt like an abyss. Never in his life, had his mind felt so clear. Easing his eyes open, Don realized that he remained tied down. Only this time, it was pitch dark in the lab.
He tried to move his arms to possibly break free, but his nerves screamed in pain. "Ugh, I'm…too weak…to even…" with no energy left in his system, he failed to speak.
In the darkness, he laid still, listening to his shallow breathing. "What did I do to deserve this? I just wanted to get parts to work on a new invention." He asked himself bitterly. Eventually his thoughts and ever so calculating mind switched back on in his head.
The last thing he recalled before passing out was seeing a lot of his blood splattered all over his captor. His stomach turned at the thought and he had to contain the urge to vomit. "There was blood everywhere…she nicked one of my arteries in my arm…I suppose they stitched me back up." Reasoning to himself, he played the last scene in his mind. With a slight whimper escaping him, he remembered her promise of her digging into his shell, but making sure he'll live through it. The very notion of someone invading his sense of security sickened him; it made him tremble. "I just hope the guys find me soon."
Night had fallen again once more and the gang failed to find out any more clues about the mysterious black van. With fatigue taking his strong grip on Raph, he felt like he could collapse at any moment. However, he was insistent on his search.
Leo came up behind him and grasped his shoulder strongly. "Raph, we aren't finding anything. We need to head back to the lair and talk to sensei…he's probably worried. We need to rest, because our state of mind becomes unfocused when we are this tired….We will continue our search in a few hours." His was voice heavy in regret and exhaustion.
After hearing Leo's small speech, Raphael tensed his muscles and shrugged off the hand. Rage poured out of him as he turned to face his brother. "No! I'm gonna keep lookin'. Don's out there all alone, Leo. If you want to be a wimp and sleep while that's going on…then fine by me. However, I won't rest till I get some answers!" Cutting the air multiple times with his hands, Raph ranted in a raised voice.
A stern frown formed on the blue masked turtle and he huffed out in annoyance. "Raph, listen to me. We can't do this while we are exhausted, since we aren't getting any results. We will be far more productive with a rested mind and body. Now let's go, that's an order."
"Well, I'm not going to follow it. Go on, leader…abandon your teammate, but I won't!" After spitting each word into his brother's face, Raph suddenly climbed a building and ran off. "I'll keep looking no matter what!" gritting his teeth, he thought angrily to himself.
Leo stood there with his face in a scolding expression. He stared off in the direction his brother darted off to. Then a low groan escaped his throat and he hung his head in disappointment. "Sometimes... there's no reasoning with him."
Then the realization that the others were still there hit him. Turning to face them, he beckoned them to follow. "Come on, lets report to Master Splinter. He's probably worried."
With their heads dipping in agreement, he then lead the way back down into the sewers. Anger and sadness clutched at his stomach. Raph had been wrong about him wanting to abandon Donnie. In fact, he was worried sick. However, seeing his other teammates worn and on the verge of collapsing caused him to make this decision. "I just pray that Raph comes back. Whoever took Donnie might be on the lookout for the rest of us." Somberly, he thought to himself while the image of his younger brother running off flashed in his mind.
The sounds of dripping echoed into his mind, breaking his train of thought. He had to get home as soon as he can. Their father and sister would be standing there worried about them. As they drew closer to the lair, Leo came up with different ways to break the news. None of them seemed that great. "This is going to be so hard to do and I already know I'm gonna chewed out for Raph."
His earlier intuition had been correct as his eyes caught Karai darting into view. All geared up, she looked ready for a fight.
"Where the hell were you? I was about to go out and search for you all. Father is worried sick!" In a venomous tone, Karai's words lashed at his ears. Skidding to a halt, Leo stopped in front of her. His face told her instantly that he had terrible news.
Pressing past her, he motioned with his head for her to come with them; he wanted to talk in the presence of Splinter. "I'll explain to you and father…I'm afraid it's not good." Then biting his lower lip, he added "Donnie's missing."
Author's Notes: Well, I hope you all enjoyed this installment as well. As you can see the brothers are definitely having a hard time coping and getting along. However, they all care about Donnie a lot and as for the Donnie scenes...I hope you all enjoyed it. That's one of the main reasons why I chose to give this particular work a rating of M. This story is such a different pace than I'm used to and I'm enjoying every second I work on it. Thanks again for reading. Once again, feel free to leave feedback. I appreciate all of the things my readers do ^.^