Hello Readers!
This is probably what you all have been anticipating. I changed the ending of this chapter, so if you want
to read the original ending of this chapter, email me!
Anyway, enjoy!
Chapter Four: Alias
Aprl O'Neil hummed softly, cleaning up the last spot of grime from her kitchen counter. She stifled a yawn from her hard Saturday morning chores and collapsed into one of the dinner table chairs with a sigh. Between running the shop, scheduling time with Casey, looking for ancient artifacts, browsing th interent for new tips on where she could find some historical figures she barely had time to manage her home.
It finally looked the way it should. Clean and neat in contrast to the way it once had after a month of neglegance.
Lifting herself from the chair, April dumped her disposal cleaning rag into the waste bin before tying the bag in a know and pulling it out of it's residence. She grunted as she hauled the hefty over buldge garbage bag out the door and down into the side alley. Blowing a strand of red hair the fell against her cheek, April lifted the bag and tossed it dramatically into the dumpster.
Smiling, she clapped her hands of any dirt or stain and turned around to depart for the house when something caught her eye. It was a foot. A foot which was connected with a leg. Furrowing her brows, April let her curiousity get the best of her and moved forward a bit to see what or who could be laying in such filth!
She regretted he motion the moment she took another step. Letting out a gasp, April slapped her hands over her eyes and whirrled around in disbelief. Thinking on her feet, she bolted into her home and quickly dialed the phone. It was unknown to her why she hadn't contacted the police department, but something had defintately told there was something more to this situation.
"I really need to start seeing a therapist after all these strange things I've seen." April said to herself.
"Hello?" a groggy voice slurred.
"Casey, you have to come over!" she said in a loud anxious filled voice.
"What happened?" Casey demanded, completely alert. "You alright?"
"I'm fine," April insisted. "It's just...you have to come over - quickly. And bring an extra change of clothes." she slammed the phone onto it's hook and crossed her arms over her chest as she glanced out the window where she could see into the alley.
It didn't take long before Casey Jones was heard loudly clamboring his way up her porch steps. She opened the door and ushered him inside, closing the front door behind him.
"Wha's tha matta, babe." he asked, dropping his pack of fresh clothes. "You're white as paper."
"In the alley." she said, handing him a thick wooled blanket.
"I don't get it." Casey said shortly as he stared blankly at the object she pushed into his arms.
"There's a boy in the alley." She confessed, looking him straight in the eyes. "A teen boy. He's wounded."
"You called me at ten o'clock in tha mornin' cause some dude was knocked out in tha alley?!" Casey exclaimed. He threw his hands in the air at his girlfriend. "Come on, Ape! I mean - "
"I just have a strange feeling, Casey." she replied, shivering. "Something is telling me that I have to help him...somehow."
"Yeah, an' somethin' is tellin' me that you need to go back to bed." Casey replied, scoffing.
"I wouldn't have called you over here, if I didn't need you." She snapped, planting her hands firmly on her hips. "Now could you please wrap him up in this and bring him inside? Then, if you want to, you may go back home for your much required beauty sleep."
Casey narrowed his eyes. "I ain't leavin' you here alone wit him!"
"Then make yourself useful and bring him inside!" April said exasperated, "Or would you prefer I carry him in myself. Naked and all?" she smirked.
With a roll of his eyes and groan of disgust, Casey gathered the blanket in his arms and headed out into the back. He muttered all the way down until he reached the alley where his girlfriend made this encounter. Peering around, his eyes caught sight of a foot that connected to a leg which was...
"Aw hell!" Casey shouted, slamming his eyes shut. Qucikly, he flapped out the blanket in his hands and hiding behind it as to not make any visual contact with the unconcious teen, he draped the fabric over the still form. He jumped away, shaking off any shivers and gathering his courage, he bent down, hositing the boy in his arms before carrying him easily inside the home.
"I knew I could count on you." April said with a small smile as Casey set him on the couch. "Now, if you would be so kind as to dress him up for me..."
"April, it's enough that I had to haul his ass ova here, but dress 'im?"
"There'll be a nice surprise for you tonight." April countered in a sing song voice, raising an eyebrow at him.
"I - but he's - you can't...fine!" he snatched up the change of clothes and ordered her to turn around while he did this. "I'll neva be tha same again." he muttered sadly.
When April was finally giving the signal that it was alright to look, she smiled in thanks and planted a kiss on Casey's cheek. "Thanks."
"Yeah, yeah." Casey muttered. "I'm gonna go wash mah hands."
April giggled. "Sure. Go ahead."
She watched him depart for the kitchen before focusing her gaze on the still form laying across her couch. There was something strangely familiar about him, almost like she met him a couple of times before. Yet, for some reason April could not recall any specific encounters she might have had with the teenage boy.
Sitting down by his feet on the couch, April studied him closely. He was slightly tan with a mop of sandy color hair, freckles that dotted across the bridge of his nose and cheeks and a dirt covered bandana tied loosely on his forehead.
"He gonna live?" Casey asked, walking into the room.
"Looks like it." April confirmed, untying the manky bandana from the teen's head. "Can you wash this? I have feeling if and when he wakes up, he'll want it back."
"Sure thing, babe." Casey snatched the bandana and disappeared back into the kitchen.
April placed her attention back on the teen boy and pursed her lips together. "Now to look for some sort of identification." she was about to get up from the couch when a glint near the boy's neck caught her eye.
Cocking her head to the side, April leaned forward and picked up the sparkling object in her palm. It was dog tags! Feeling a rush of relief crash against her, April took the chain from around his neck to take a closer look at the engraving. It read:
Micheal.
"Micheal," April repeated. "That's it?" she flipped the tag over.
"Uh, babe..." Casey called from the kitchen. "I think you should come ova here."
Still holding the idenitification tags, April wandered into the kitchen. "What is it?"
In response, Casey held up a wet soapy orange bandanna from the sink in which he was washing it in "Check it out."
April opened her mouth to speak, closed it and looked at the tags.
Micheal.
Michelangelo? Could it be?
"There's something weird going on." April whispered showing Casey the item in her hand.
He opened his eyes, shifting to a more comfortable position as he peered through his eyelashes. A brilliant light met his vision and he squinted against it, holding up a hand to shield himself from such exposure. Slowly, he sat up into a sitting position, feeling the back of his head as if trying to remember what happened to him in the last few hours.
As he became more accustomed to the amout of light, he got an exclusive look around, finally realizing that he was in someone's home. A blanket was wrapped around him, filling him with such warmth he couldn't help but snuggle into it. He couldn't remember the last time he ever had a roof over his head. Most of his life, or what he could recall of it was spent on the streets, begging and stealing in order to survive.
Swinging his legs over the side of the cough, he let his feet touch the rug that covered the floor. He glanced around for any sort of clue as to where he was. His eyes caught on a picture frame on the coffee table before him. Reaching out, he grasped it delicately and brought it to him.
It was a photo of a man and a woman. The woman was pretty with fair skin, red hair and emerald green eyes. She seemed the type of person who held compassion and sensitivy, but a dash of a temper. The man, in which the woman had her arms around was built, his dark hair reaching his shoulders. Despite his tough exterior, he thought the man to be somewhat of a caring and soft peron inside.
"You're awake!" a voice said.
He jumped, dropping the picture frame and regretfully watched it shatter. "I'm sorry! I didn't meant to! I was only just - "
"It's alright," She said in a soft voice. It was the woman in the picture "How are you feeling?"
"I'm fine." he snapped, suddenly freezing up in his posture and moving away from her touch. "Why am I here?"
April's smiled faltered. "You were knocked out in the back of the alley. I couldn't just leave you there, Micheal."
Micheal stood up suddenly, but swayed slightly as he did. He pushed away April's offering assistance. "I'm fine. How do you know my name?"
"Your identification." April replied quickly and held out her hand to show him. "I had to find out who you were."
Micheal snatched it up, pulling it over his head. He ran a hand through his hair and sat down. "I'm sorry," he apologized. "I've been a little bit on the edge of my seat lately."
"Care to talk about it?"
The teen narrowed his eyes at that. "No thanks," he wriggled his nose. "Listen, thanks for your help..."
"April." she supplied.
As much as he hated to part with such a coming environment, he had to leave. He couldn't put this couple in danger.
"Yeah." he shrugged. "I gotta go."
"No way, man." a voice inturrupted. "You look like hell. You ain't in no condition to leave."
Micheal faced the voice. It was the man in the picture. "Look, dude, I appreciate your concern, but I gotta leave."
The man had a spark of emotion the moment the word dude had spilled from his mouth. As quickly as it came, it was gone. "Listen, your only a kid.I ain't lettin' you roam tha streets in this condition." he said. "I'll call yer parents."
"My parents are dead." Micheal stated. He pushed passed the man, grabbing his orange bandanna from the table and tied around his forehead. "So, I'll - wah...ah..."
Casey had hit him over the head with a hockey stick.
"Casey Jones!" April shrieked, rushing over to the fallen teen. "That was uncalled for!"
"We couldn't let him leave tha house, Ape." Casey said. "I think it's time we called tha guys or sumthin' cuz despite it all, this is Mikey."
April rolled her eyes. "We don't know that!"
"Well, it adds up." Casey concluded. "His name is Micheal, orange bandanna..."
"Two things, Casey." April said with a scoff. "I mean, honestly, you didn't have to hit him with the hockey stick!"
"Well, what did you think I should've used? A fryin' pan?" Casey exclaimed sarcastically.
April sighed in exasperation. "Just move him to the spare room. I'll call the guys, okay?"
"Fine." Casey relented, scooping the teen into his arms.
Picking up the receiver April wondered just how she was going to explain this all to her mutated friends down below.
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