Chapter 6: Ghost Stories
A/N: Hey, sorry I'm late with this, but I was juggling other stories and I still am doing that, I'm not sure when updates will happen anymore It just depends on my mood and what I can get done. Thanks to those who have read and reviewed thus far. Your kind words are great and help me to continue on with this story.
Disclaimer: TMNT and all related characters are property of Nickelodeon. I only own the plot of the story.
Raph stared incredulously at his phone, hardly daring to believe this was real. A had been Robyn, and Robyn was supposed to be dead. But seeing this text confirmed that she was alive and that she was the one Leo had encountered in the woods.
It was Mikey who broke the silence. "Ahhh! It's Robyn's ghost! She's threatening us from beyond the grave!"
Don rolled his eyes. "Mikey, there are no such things as ghosts," he said. "The dead can't send text messages."
"You talked to April's ghost when you meditated," Mikey pointed out. "So how can you say ghosts don't exist?"
"It wasn't a ghost!" Don snapped. "She was real, and I could hug her. It was more like her spirit, not a ghost."
Raph rolled his eyes. "You've got to be kidding me!" he scolded. "How can you not think this is Robyn? It's not her ghost or spirit or whatever you want to call it. She's got scars on her from the fire and dyed her hair so we won't know it's her."
"The text definitely sounds like something Robyn as A would say," said Leo. "There are two possibilities: Either Lynn is Robyn in disguise, or she's working for Robyn to mess with our heads. And although I think we should talk to Lynn about this, I think there's another way we can find out the truth."
"How?" Mikey asked him.
"We talk to April," answered Leo. "We need to contact her through meditation and see if she's seen Robyn wherever she is. If she has, then we have our answer."
"That is an excellent suggestion, Leonardo," praised Splinter. "Perhaps April will have the answers we are looking for. And if so, then perhaps this mystery will be solved sooner rather than later."
"And what if we try this and nothin' happens?" asked Raph. He was always the one who was skeptical when it came to meditation and spirits. When April had explained her beliefs to them and what it all meant, Raph had declared that it was all nonsense created by humans to brainwash the masses.
"Oh, it'll work, Raph," said Don smugly. "I've done it before."
"Whatever you say, Brainiac," scoffed Raph. He really wanted to wipe the smug look off of Don's face, but he knew if he did that he'd be punished. Instead he crossed his arms over his chest so he wouldn't be tempted to make any sudden moves.
"I'd like to attempt this myself," said Kirby. "It would be nice to talk to my daughter again."
Splinter nodded. "Yes, that would be fine. We will attempt to reach April after lunch."
Raph was still skeptical about all of this. Even if it did work, what if April hadn't seen anything? And if she did see something, what would that mean? He chewed on his sandwich as Splinter explained to Kirby how to channel April's spirit. If this didn't work then Raph was going to be very pissed off.
After lunch was over, they settled themselves in a lotus position in the living room. This was the moment of truth, and Raph was honestly worried about whether it would work or not, though he did his best to hide his fear. Splinter instructed everyone to close their eyes and concentrate. Raph had never been good at meditation, but he was determined to get it right this time. He did as his father told him and concentrated as hard as he could. At first, nothing happened, but then things changed and Raph found himself in a meadow filled with flowers. He looked around and saw Splinter, his brothers, and Kirby were there, too. He felt Leo nudge him and saw Leo motion to the front for Raph to look there. Raph did as Leo asked and gasped. April was in front of them wearing the same clothes she'd worn on the night she died.
"What the shell is this?" gasped Raph.
Donnie laughed. "See? I told you it would work, Raph," he gloated.
Raph glared at him and then turned his attention to April.
"Now, Donnie, don't be so smug," she scolded her friend. Then she smiled. "It's so good to see all of you."
"It's good to see you, too, April," Mikey said.
April ran over and gave each of them a hug. When she reached Raph, he expected her to pass through him like a ghost, but when she put her arms around him, she was solid and warm. He returned the hug warmly.
"I missed you, sis," he said, his throat cracking up.
"I missed all of you, too," she said. She pulled back and noticed Miwa was there as well. "I see you joined the family."
"Yep, I'm a Hamato now," Miwa replied.
"Well, at least you're not an enemy anymore," April declared. Then she turned to the others. "So what's with the visit?"
"We have an important question to ask you," Leo answered. "On the night of the fire, we managed to escape, but we didn't know about Robyn. A few nights ago, we encountered a girl with dark hair, and she had scars on her as though she was burned. The others encountered her in the city, and I saw her in the woods at the farm. So our question is do you know if Robyn survived the fire?"
April sighed. "I'm sorry, guys, but I don't know," she said. "I tried to look for her, but the smoke was too thick to see if she got out."
"So she could still be out there?" Mikey asked fearfully.
"She could be. Did she use her real name?"
"She introduced herself as Lynn Obiero," Don replied. "If Robyn's alive though, she wouldn't give us her real name so we couldn't trace her. She'd want to remain anonymous."
"Robyn's middle name is Lynn," Kirby recalled. "She could have used her middle name and used a fake last name."
"And I remember a game we used to play when we were little where we pretended we were princesses," April added. "We called ourselves Princess Marie and Princess Lynn since those were our middle names."
"So how do we figure this out for sure?" Leo asked.
"Leo, we've been over this. We're gettin' texts from A again, and we all know Robyn is A," Raph piped up.
"But we need to know for sure, Raph," Leo reminded him.
Raph glared at him but said nothing. Wasn't the text from A proof enough that Robyn was alive?
"And you didn't ask her anything about herself or me?" asked April.
"We asked her about how she got her scars, but she wouldn't tell us," said Mikey.
"So she's probably not going to say anything on that so that you won't know it's her," noted April. "You'll just have to gain her trust. Once you gain it, maybe you can ask her what she knows about me. If she reveals anything that Robyn would know, then you have the answer."
"And how will we know that it's somethin' Robyn knows about you?" Raph asked her.
"Dad gave you my journal," replied April. "I wrote about her in there, so just pick something from there to ask her."
"That's it?" asked Donnie.
"Yep, that's it," she responded. "So, any other questions?"
"I have one," said Mikey raising his hand. "Why did Robyn hate you so much? Weren't you guys really close and stuff?"
"Yeah, we were," said April. "But after Mom died, things changed with us. Robyn blamed me for her death and just kept holding that grudge against me. I wish things had been different, but they weren't. I know you're mad at me for not telling you about her, but I had no choice. I felt guilty about it a lot. And, Leo, I know you feel guilty for what happened to me, but it's not your fault. It's my fault for keeping the secret from you. Maybe if I had told you, this never would have happened. Robyn was mad that I didn't tell her about the four of you or let you meet her when she was home. I was going to tell you about her as soon as Dad said it was okay. She kept begging to meet you guys, and I kept telling her it wasn't safe to do so. What if she exposed you to other humans? So I just kept putting it off until it was too late. I wanted to tell you at the party, but I just couldn't summon up the courage to do so. I'm really sorry, guys."
Mikey, always the quickest to forgive, put a hand on April's shoulder. "That's okay, April," he said. "It's not your fault. You were just doing what your dad wanted you to do."
"I know if you had been able to, you would have told us," Leo added. "We would have been able to save you if we had seen it coming. Don't blame yourself, April."
April laughed. "Says the Turtle who always blames himself when something goes wrong," she teased, but then she stopped when she saw the look on Leo's face. "Leo, I'm so sorry. I shouldn't have said that. It slipped out before I thought!"
"That's okay, April," Leo replied. "I understand what you meant, and I'm starting to come to terms with what happened to you. It wasn't any of our faults at all. The only one to blame is Robyn."
A thought occurred to Raph. "But if this girl isn't Robyn, could she be someone from your school, April?"
"There were a few girls named Lynn, but they didn't have the last name Obiero," April answered. "And no one knows about you guys except for me, my dad, and Robyn."
"What about any friends Robyn made at the hospital?" Leo suggested. "Do you think she'd coerce one of them to play with our minds and pretend that they're Robyn?"
"That's definitely a possibility," April mused. "Robyn did have some friends there, but none of them were named Lynn. It wouldn't surprise me if she did that though. She was always the type who could get others to do things for her. She had a way of persuading people and always let them know if they didn't do things for her, they'd regret it. I remember one time at school Robyn dared a girl to kiss a boy, but the girl refused. So Robyn got back at her by pouring water on her chair and causing the girl's shorts to get wet. Then Robyn spread the rumor that the girl had a bladder problem, and it stuck. I tried to get Robyn to apologize, but she refused to do it."
Raph shook his head in disgust when April finished her story. He knew that sometimes he came off as a jerk to his brothers, but he had never stooped to Robyn's level. "Man, she was a heartless bitch," he said. "Uh, no offense, April."
"None taken, Raph," April replied. "You're right, She really wasn't nice to anybody and was always out for herself."
"It is important that we find out the truth as soon as possible," Splinter declared. "One of the keys of being a good ninja is to know your enemy."
"So we'll just talk to Lynn and see if she'll open up," Leo decided. "Donnie, can you look into the institution Robyn was being held in and see if she had any roommates? Maybe we can get answers from one of them about Robyn and what she was like."
Don nodded. "I brought my laptop with me so I can look into it," he replied.
April smiled. "I know you can do it," she said confidently. "And if you have any other questions, feel free to ask."
"We'll do all we can to solve this mystery," Kirby told his daughter. "I won't rest until I find out for sure if Robyn is alive or not. And if she is, I'll make sure she confesses to what she did to and that she pay the price."
"I know you will, Dad," April whispered, giving him a hug.
"I am afraid we must go," Splinter said. "Thank you for telling us what we needed to know, April. I only hope we can get the answers we seek."
"I hope so, too, Master Splinter," April replied. "I hope to see you all again soon."
"You can count on that," Raph promised. He was glad that April was okay and knew he had to focus on the present now. He watched as April hugged everyone once more until she came to him last. He hugged her and whispered in her ear, "See you around, sis." She kissed his cheek and then waved at all of them. Then everything shifted, and Raph found himself back inside the farmhouse.
"Dudes, that was awesome!" Mikey said excitedly. "I so want to do that again."
"Well, next time, I hope it won't feel like I ran a thousand miles," Raph complained.
"Does it always feel this way?" Kirby asked Splinter.
"Once you get the hang of it, it becomes easier, and you won't feel so exhausted," Splinter replied.
"So, Raph, are you going to believe me now?" Don asked his brother.
"Stop rubbin' it in, Donnie," Raph grumbled. "You were right, and I was wrong. Are you happy now?"
"Yes, I am," Don replied.
"Good. Well, if you'll excuse me, I'm gonna go take a nap for a bit." He headed to the room he shared with Leo and settled on his bed with his hands behind his head. It was weird that they'd been able to contact April but it had been refreshing as well to see his friend again. Now they had a plan to catch Robyn in the act. He just hoped it would work. Raph's thoughts were shattered when his T-Phone went off, indicating that he had a text message. He opened his inbox and gasped when he read the message.
Hey, Raph, having fun on your little vacation? Better enjoy it while you can.—A.
Raph stared at the text, hardly daring to believe it was happening yet again. He went to the window and looked out, noticing a figure lurking by the trees. Was someone watching him? When he looked again, he saw only the trees swaying in the wind.
A/N: So another chapter is done. Yep, it's not over yet, and it's not going to be easy for the Turtles from here on out. We'll just have to see if their plan will work. Feel free to leave a review and have a shelltastic day.