Chapter 06: Danger from the Depth

Donnie had to stay the next day in bed. April insisted. And she attended to him although she wasn't as caring and friendly as Donnie had once know her to be. There was something like distance or coldness in her eyes, and it made him worry.

He had no idea why she was acting that way. When he had left them to start his research on a retromutagen together with other scientists, she had been all kind and worried about him, and her e-mails from the first year had been full of warm, encouraging words to make him feel better because he had been terribly homesick back then.

But then their e-mails had gotten shorter and shorter, they only had told each other about basic things and if something important had happened. The time between messages had gotten longer and longer, and the power shortages in Area M had done one more thing to cut down their messages. He couldn't even blame her for not writing more often.

But he hadn't expected that she would treat him so differently, once he was back. He had thought she would still be the friend he had once known. But he had been wrong. It wasn't so much that she had changed that bothered him. He had changed, too, as had his brothers, but how she treated him, the distance in her eyes whenever she looked at him, was just something he couldn't deal with.

And now that he thought of it, Raph was acting a bit similar to April. His older brother kept a distance, too, after what had happened during their mission to salvage the shipment from Donnie's scientist friend – as if he was mad at Donnie for getting hurt.

Donnie tried to tell himself that Raph had just been worried, but things were a little different than they used to be. Back in the good, old the days – although they had never been completely good, not on Donnie's count, at least – Raph had always gotten angry when one of his brothers had been in trouble, masking his worries with acting extra tough, but as soon as he had known that everything was going to be okay, he had been acting normal again, making his jokes and punching his brothers whenever he got the chance. But now, Raph was avoiding him. He hadn't even visited Donnie in his room today although he knew that his brother had been confined to bed for the day.

Leo had been here twice already, and Mikey like ten times, and it only was around midday.

But Donnie had only caught a glimpse of Raph when he had walked past the open door, eyes straight forward, pretending that Donnie wasn't even there.

Raph had had this angry look on his face, his mouth pressed into a thin line, and it hadn't been the grumpy look he usually wore, so Donnie was pretty sure that Raph hadn't been too busy to check on him.

With a sigh he rolled on his side. Next time, Mikey showed up, he would ask him for something to read.

That night, Donnie was awoken by Mikey's panicked voice.

"We're out of power!" he shouted. "Everyone, move!"

Donnie wasn't sure what this meant. Still feeling a bit drowsy he sat up. What was he supposed to do now?

He saw the lights of flashlights dancing around in the aisle, but he still was too tired to put two and two together.

Suddenly he found a flashlight directly pointed at his face, and he squeezed his eyes shut and lifted his hand to cover his eyes.

"What are you waiting for!?" Leo yelled as he rushed into Donnie's room.

Donnie looked at him slightly confused, but before he could ask, Leo grabbed Donnie's arm, slung it over his shoulder and dragged Donnie out of the room and over to the lab.

As soon as they were inside, Mikey and Raph closed the door behind them and bolted it.

Leo breathed a sigh of relief as soon as the door was closed.

Donnie still was a little confused and looked around the room. The lab was lighted by their flashlights, and it never had been pitch black down here anyway, so Donnie could make out a few things.

He could see April, Casey, and Splinter in the back of the lab, where Splinter was lighting a few candles, while April had brought out an old blanket from their stocks. Casey was just standing around, looking pretty forlorn as if he wasn't sure what he should do now.

Donnie sighed. I can relate to that…

But then he heard a thud and looked to the side to see that Raph had slumped down on the floor, leaning his back against the bolted door, his arms crossed over his chest. Mikey just looked at him for a second, but then walked to the back of the lab.

Before Donnie could observe any more, Leo started moving again, leading him to the cot and making him sit down.

"You feeling okay?" he asked Donnie. "Maybe you got hurt more badly than thought."

"No, Leo, I'm fine," Donnie replied. "I was just feeling a little drowsy. I am not used to jump out of bed and run for it any longer."

"Oh, well, okay," Leo replied. "You better get used to it again!"

He pointed his finger at Donnie, giving him the leader-look Donnie had truly missed.

"I will," he promised, and Leo just replied with a nod before he went over to Raph and slumped down next to him.

Mikey returned with some comic books and a second flashlight and set down next to Donnie on the cot. He handed one flashlight to Donnie and then opened a comic book, lighting the pages with his flashlight. After a moment he turned to Donnie.

"Want one?" Mikey asked, motioning to the comic book collection on his knees. "This will take all night."

Donnie just shook his head. He hadn't even turned on his flashlight yet. There was enough light in here, so he could see as long as he didn't read anything. And he didn't feel like reading right now.

"Okay," Mikey said with a shrug before he turned back to his comic book.

Donnie let his eyes wander over the room again.

Splinter had lit his candles and was now kneeling on a seat cushion, meditating.

April had placed her blanket on the ground and was now sitting on it. But something about her posture made Donnie frown. She had pulled up her knees, her arms flung around her legs and her forehead was resting on her knees.

Casey seemed to think the same because he approached her.

"Red, you okay?" he asked gently.

"I-I'm fine," came her reply, but she didn't lift her head. "Just a headache."

"Want some water? Or a painkiller?" Casey suggested, although he had no idea where to get those, but he was sure Raph or Leo or Mikey would help him out.

April shook her head, again without lifting it. "No, j-just leave me alone. I'll be fine."

"Okay." The disappointment in his voice was clearly hearable as he strolled over to Donnie and Mikey and leaned against the cot next to them.

"Don't take it to heart, Casey," Mikey said in a low voice. "She's always like this when we're in here."

"Which reminds me," Casey said, "why are we in here?"

"You don't know?" Mikey asked.

"Well, of course I know," Casey replied. "I just wanted to know if you do, too."

"Ah, okay," was all Mikey said.

Casey sighed. "Mikey, that was a joke. I've never been down here with you guys when you locked yourselves away in the lab, so I have absolutely no idea why we are here."

Mikey thought about that for a moment. "Oh, you're right. We have always been on our own, now that I think of it. We just don't talk about these nights too often, so I must have forgotten."

Donnie had to confess, he had no idea why they were in here either. April had told him once that the lab now was their panic room they used when there was a total blackout. It had made him curious, but she had looked so frightened when she had told him about the lab's new usage – although she had tried to hide it and put on a fake smile, but that hadn't fooled him – that he hadn't dared to ask her any more questions about it. He had intended on asking his brothers, though, but hadn't had time for that now, so he was glad he'd get an answer now.

"Well," Mikey continued. "It started with the first total blackouts. We didn't really think about it at first. One of us was on duty anyway and power would come back eventually, so that was okay, we thought. But we were so wrong! It was the third blackout in a month, and it was my night turn. I positioned myself in the living room with some flashlights, guarding the entrance, but I was in no way prepared for what happened next. I hadn't really expected that someone – or something – would show up. The powerless nights before had been quiet, but this night was different. I thought my ears were playing a trick on me when I heard this strange noise coming from the tunnel. It sounded like a screech. And then there was a second one and a third and a fourth, so I knew I was hearing pretty fine. I ran over to the tunnel, searching for whatever was there. And then I saw this big shadow coming my direction. And by big I mean, really, really big. I knew I wouldn't stand a chance against that thing, but I at least wanted to know what it was so I pointed my flashlight at it. From what I could see it was some red-purple-pink wobbling mass, but then it screeched so loudly when it was hit by the light, that I stumbled backwards. And then something hit the flashlight out of my hand, and all I could do was back away. I ran inside to wake the others, and we barricaded ourselves in Leo's room. Raph was super-grumpy because we didn't fight it, but sensei said we weren't prepared. In the morning, this thing was gone. There were some traces in the tunnel, but we couldn't really read them and lost track further down the tunnel anyway. So we decided to build our own panic room, just in case."

"And what is this thing?" Casey asked.

"We don't know," Mikey explained. "It only shows up here at night when power is out as if it was lurking outside, waiting for the right moment to attack when our security system is down. It sometimes gets inside the living room and rummages it as if it is looking for something, but it is always gone in the morning."

"I still think we could put it down!" Raph called over to them.

"We talked about this, Raph," Leo said. "And we decided that it would be best not to rush into a fight we maybe wouldn't win."

"You mean you and sensei decided," Raph replied. "I never said such a thing. I think getting out there and fight it would be the best way to get rid of it, not hide in here as if we were some scared little brats afraid of the bogeyman."

"Raph…," Leo started again, but Raph got up rather fiercely and stomped over to Mikey.

"Give me one of these comic books!" he ordered.

Mikey immediately wanted to grab one and hand it to Raph, but at that moment, they heard it.

It was the sharpest shriek, the most heart-piercing cry Donnie had ever heard, and it made them all freeze for a second. April yelped in pain and pressed her finger against her temples in an attempt to make the pain bearable.

And then it was over again. Mikey handed Raph the comic book, and Raph stomped back to his place at the door and slumped down again, now opening the comic book and reading it, using his flashlight as a reading light.

And if it hadn't been for April who still was breathing heavily, one could have thought nothing had happened.

The next morning, Raph and Leo opened the door and peeked outside cautiously. The sun had already risen, they realized, as sunlight shone from the ceiling hole above the wooden emergency stairs. Leo breathed a sigh of relief.

"Okay, we're good," he announced to the others.

April was the first of them to get up. She simply rushed out of the lab and to her room.

Donnie who had been resting on a blanket on the floor next to the cot watched this with a frown, but then Mikey's light snores made him look at his younger brother. Donnie had left the cot to Mikey, shifting to the floor when his younger brother had dozed off.

Donnie watched his brother with a smile. Mikey could sleep anywhere. While the rest of the team had been too tensed to sleep, Mikey had fallen asleep reading his comic books. He still had his flashlight in his one hand and the comic book in the other, although Donnie had turned off the flashlight before he had gotten a blanket for himself to set up his makeshift bed on the floor. He had been lying there all night, staring at the ceiling, shivering slightly whenever the creature outside had shrieked.

But now he placed a hand on Mikey's shoulder and shook him gently.

"Mikey, it's time to wake up," he said softly, but with no effect.

"MIKEY, GET UP!" Raph yelled, and Mikey literally jumped to his feet with a yelp, tossing comic book and flashlight away. The comic book landed on the floor, but the flashlight was about to hit Splinter in the face. The mutant rat caught it incidentally like he had done with arrows sometimes.

When he walked past Mikey, he gave it back to him.

"Thanks, sensei," Mikey said with a sheepish grin.

"You are welcome, my son."

And with that the two left. Casey followed suit as did Raph, and so only Leo and Donnie were left in the lab.

Donnie walked over to his oldest brother.

"So this is it?" he asked.

"Pretty much, yeah," Leo replied. "But it should have been the last time, now that you are going to set up a new electricity system."

"But I think we lost the shipment," Donnie said.

"And what do you think that is?" Leo walked over to a big crate that was covered by a blanket and took the blanket away. And there it was, the orange package they had tried to salvage two days ago.

"I…I thought it was lost!" Donnie called out.

"After all we had been going through to get it? No way!"

"But how…?"

"Raph carried you to the lair while Mikey and I took the package. It was a bit difficult, but we managed."

"Why hasn't anyone told me?"

"You didn't ask."

"But…I…"

Leo chuckled a little. "You would have started working on it right away, and April told us that you needed one day of bed rest."

Donnie gave a little shrug. "True."

But then he frowned. "Speaking of April, what is going on with her? She looked terrible."

"She's always like that when we are in here, cuddled up in the back of the lab, always suffering from terrible headaches. First thing in the morning, she heads back to her room, trying to catch up on some sleep."

"I see. But she should definitely take some painkillers next time."

"She refuses," Leo explained, "saying that we should save our meds for emergencies."

"I see her point, but still, it just feels wrong to have her suffering like that."

"I know," Leo agreed, placing a hand on Donnie's shoulder. "But there's nothing we can do. You know April." He smiled at Donnie encouragingly, and Donnie returned the smile. But deep down inside him, he couldn't help, but have doubts. Did he really know April any longer?

"Now let's grab some breakfast," Leo announced then, and Donnie replied with a nod.

April was lying in her bed, trying her best to fall asleep, but she just couldn't. It always took her an hour until sleep was finally coming her way after one of these nights. She still could hear the creature's shrieks, felt how they made her feel like someone was tearing her head apart, and in a way, that was what it did.

She hadn't told the guys about it, but when this creature arrived, it felt like it was trying to get inside her head, its shrieks, its sheer presence consuming April's thoughts completely. And sometimes, she could even hear some words, although she never could remember them in the morning.

She always did her best to shield her mind, and so far, she had done a good job.

She knew, she should tell the guys about it, but it would only worry them, if not make them rush outside of the safe lab and fight this creature, and that was the last thing she wanted – getting them into even more danger.

She knew two things about this creature – it was powerful and it was looking for something. She knew that thanks to her psychic powers which, unfortunately, made the creature find its way into her head, too, but this was just a negative side-effect, and she could handle that. All she knew that this something the creature was looking for was inside the lab. The creature was always lurking in the living room, waiting or checking the lab's walls for weaknesses although tonight, it had decided to just wait. Sometimes it rummaged the living room as if looked for something to break into the lab. But there never was a sign that it had gotten deeper inside the lair. And with the first rays of sun, the creature was gone.

April knew when it left, when her mind was finally set free from its oppressive presence, but she always was too exhausted to tell the guys and thus waited until the others opened the door when they were sure it was safe. And telling them about it would mean telling them about what this creature did to her. And she had decided against it. She would never put the guys into danger. And if that meant that she had to endure some headache every now and then, she couldn't care less.

With a sigh April rolled on her side, as her eyelids finally got very heavy and she drifted off to sleep.

In its den, deep down in the tunnels of the sewers, the creature was retiring from the night, its hundreds of bodies scattered on the floor. It had been a good night; it had gotten closer to what belonged to it. And soon, it would be its again. In the meantime, it would wait, hiding the light-sensitive skin of its bodies in the darkness, until it would hear the buzzing sound of electricity fade again, and it knew that it could get up there without risking to expose its skin to too much light. And then it would come the closest to what belonged to it, and it would deal its invisible blows, and soon, it would possess again what belonged to it.

Soon, its hundreds of brains thought at once, soon, we will have what belongs to us again.

And it let out a loud shriek of anticipation.