The kids didn't go to sleep until they were all piled up on Joss's bed, overlapping each other.

Jazz hugged her favorite stuffed animal, a light-skinned turtle toy, to her chest, sucking her thumb slightly.

Joss smiled at the six turtles spread across her small bed, Jackie lying on her lap.

She perked when the door squeaked, and her eyes narrowed.

She didn't see anything through the doorframe, but she didn't waver.

A chill went up her side, like fingers, and grabbed her wrist.

She panicked, pulling back.

Something dug into her skin, and she cried out in pain.

Violet was up in a moment, and her eyes widened.

"LET HER GO!!!!"

The pain left, and Joss noticed her cousin's eyes were glowing slightly, but from what, she couldn't say.

"Joss, are you okay?"

She nodded, green-tinted brown eyes watering, when Leo ran in, having heard her cry of pain.

"Joss!! What's wrong?!"

The other kids had woken by then, and Joss was cradling her bleeding wrist.

Gio rushed in, and saw the blood.

"Oh no!!"

She rushed over, holding the joint gingerly, and Jackie seemed near tears.

"What happened?" Rose asked, looking around in sleepy confusion as Ben and Theo fell out of the bed from the surprise.

Jazz woke with a start, feeling something cold ghost over her skin before leaving.

Cat ran in, having heard her daughter's yell, and moved to Gio's side.

"Whoa…it looked like whoever grabbed her had claws…"

Jazz felt light-headed…woozy…

"Sweetheart?"

She looked up at her father, eyes distant.

"D-Daddy…"

Someone grabbed her arm, and she snapped back to reality.

"M-Mommy?"

The mist in her eyes was gone when Jazz blinked, but a looming fear had been born in her, throwing a shadow over her heart and making her skin prickle.

Elisa looked at her own child worriedly, when…

"What's with all the noise? I can hardly hear 'Bioshock' over all the yelling!"

A sound smack.

"It's just a game, squirt."

Rach then proceeded to pick up her boys, whom were still on the floor, struggling to get off their shells.

"Shell! What happened to Joss?" The grey-banded turtle questioned, looking at the blood.

"A ghost…"

Cat's eyes rested on her eldest daughter, whose gaze didn't waver.

"It tried to take her away, but she fought back…it ran when it saw I was looking straight at 'em…"

Rose seemed even more befuddled, and rubbed at her eyes cutely.

"But why? It didn't seem too scared ta try an' choke ya…"

"Her eyes were glowing…"

Joss looked up, seeing everyone was in the sparsely furnished room she called her own.

"I don't know why…but Violet's eyes were glowing when whatever grabbed me let go…"

Leo picked up his oldest child, careful of her wrist.

"What happened before that?"

"Well…everyone was asleep, but I couldn't relax, so I kinda stood watch…"

Gio smiled slightly.

'Just like Leo…'

"Then I heard the door squeak open, but no one was there, and I felt something cold move up my side and grab my wrist. I kinda…panicked…"

She smiled sheepishly at that.

"And then weird claws dug into my skin. I remember screaming, and then Violet was up, yelling at whoever it was to let me go. It did, and then everyone started waking up and running in…"

Her eyes lowered.

"…Sorry for worrying you…"

Gio slapped her mate on the arm, glaring at the 'What did I do?!' look she received.

"There's nothing to apologize for. I'm just glad you're okay."

Gio gave him a 'You'd BETTER be!' look as Splinter walked in, having been woken by the commotion.

"What's wrong, my children?"

Leo explained as Gio picked up Jackie, Cat picked up Rose in a bridal hold to allow the young one to sleep, and Raph picked up Violet, who seemed happy enough to cling to him.

Elisa gathered blankets as Don lifted up his only little girl, holding her close as she shivered, clinging to his shoulders like a survivor of a shipwreck.

"Perhaps we should stay up for the night, young ones."

The children eagerly agreed, and so the family settled in the living room.

Ben and Theo were soon fast asleep, soft snores barely breaking the silence, but Jazz only fell asleep when listening to her favorite music CD and curled up on her father's lap.

Violet stayed vigilant, her eyes scanning the room constantly for a threat only she could see, as Rose snored, her head on her sibling's lap.

Joss was up as well, reading a book on the supernatural, Jackie leaning on her as the young three year old fought sleep away with fear.

Rach was dozing off when a chill ran up her arms, like cloth on her skin, and her eyes snapped open.

Theo, who was on her lap, whimpered, and smoky grey eyes widened when she saw blood start to seep through cuts on his shoulder.

"THEO!!!"

Violet's eyes snapped in their direction.

"LET HIM GO!!!!" She ordered, scrambling off a startled Raph's lap and grabbing hold of something they couldn't see.

Violet was thrown back with a cry of pain, and Cat jumped up she saw what looked like bleeding claw marks on the eight year old's cheek.

This, however, didn't daunt the child, and she rushed in again, somehow freeing her cousin and taking the chill from the air.

"…What was that?" Rach asked, wide-eyed.

"OH MY GOSH!!!! IT'S TRYING TO TAKE US ONE BY ONE!!!!! RUN AND HIDE!!!!! IT'S THE APOCALYPSE!!!!!"

Rach smacked her husband upside the head.

"Calm down, ya knucklehead!"

Raph moved forward, touching the bleeding cuts on his daughters cheek.

"What the shell was that?" He demanded, eyes steely.

"Some weird…cat…dog…I don't even know WHAT it is!" Violet admitted, wincing from the fresh pain.

"It looked all weird and pieced together from a bunch of different animals! They all looked weird, though…"

"…What do ya classify as 'weird'?"

"Well, like some pieces have fur, but then there are scales or something in others…Okay, let's just say it's REALLY messed up!"

"…I can see that…"

Rose had fallen on the ground after Violet had bolted, and groaned.

"…So I fell on the floor…because you saw a ghost…A GHOST!?! Why I outta-!?!"

Cat held back the young hot-head, muttering soothing Japanese words that calmed the young turtle.

Ben was looking at his brother's wounded shoulder, touching the blood slightly.

Joss would've gone to comfort him, but her wrist, though bandaged, was still wounded.

Jazz just looked around in confusion, eyes sleepy but struggling to comprehend.

Jackie was struggling in her mother's arms, having a fit, and Violet flinched as her father tried cleaning the blood.

"OW!!! Daddy, it hurts!!"

Rose looked up, and froze.

"M-Mommy…"

"What is it, honey?"

"…I-I think I believe in ghosts now…"

"Why?" Cat asked, curious at the wide-eyed panic on her youngest's face.

"…'Cause I see one…i-it's right behind Ben…"