Fate of the Staples

Part 2

I immediately whipped out my cell phone. I wondered why no one has called me, but I think they'd know that I would call anyways. My fingers fumbled clumsily with the keys as I dialed Leo's number as fast as I could. Finally, I put the phone up to my ear and anxiously waited for Leo to pick up his phone. I heard the other end click.

"Leo!" I cried.

"Cameryn! What is it? Are you okay?" He asked, anxiety building in his voice.

"I- um I... Ehhhh... It's- I just-"

"Just what?" Leo's voice seemed tired of my mumbling.

"Just come to the corner of Harvon and... And I don't know!" I gasped out. The cell phone slipped out of my violently shaking hands and it skidded across the pavement from my perch up on top of a fire escape. I jumped down, snatched my phone up, and looked at it to see if it was all right. I pressed all of the buttons at once but it was dead. I growled in frustration and threw my phone on the ground, stomping on it multiple times.

The muffled sound of dress shoes on the sidewalk grew louder and louder as someone walked towards me. I hid just in time to see a man in a suit walk past. Who would wear a suit on the streets like this? I thought to myself. I realized that this was a nice suburb area and also that it was a Sunday. I scampered across the street and stared at the sign at the end of the path. It still said "the Staple residence" etched into its dark wooden surface. I reached behind me for my scythe to take off when I realized it wasn't there. This made me more anxious so I decided to sit down at the foot of the beautiful Japanese cherry blossom until everyone got here.


XXXXX

it seemed like forever until they showed up. Jen looked just as stunned as I was when she saw this. All she could do was mumble surprised-sounding gibberish.

"What does this mean, Cam?" Leo asked me.

"Our house burnt down... It was a long time ago. We used to be the richest family in this side of New York." I said. I walked over to the row of strange stones. The first one said "Cassiopeia Misako Staple."

"That's mom." Jen noted.

"Ewwww, this place is a graveyard?" Mikey asked.

"No, just a memorial. There wouldn't be a body to bury anyways," I replied sadly.

"This place is so sad!" Raph harshly commented. I shot him a glare and he softened up. I moved on to the next one that said "Henry Nicholas Staple."

"Dad..." I murmured. I never stayed to find out if anyone made it out or not. Jen and I were the only ones left. I shivered, then looked at the next eight stones. Each one of them had a different name etched into the rough surface, representing each of our siblings that were lost in the fire.

We all crowded around the last two stones as I read aloud.

Time slowed as I said "Jennifer Lauraine Staple."

"Whoa, Jen's a ghost?" Mikey asked in awe, as if he thought it was awesome that Jen was dead.

"No, Mikey. People just think she is." Donnie explained.

"Hey! Those stupid dorks! I'm not dead, I'm right here!" Jennifer shouted angrily at the stone. "Take that, fate!" The four of us stared at Jennifer. She ignored us and looked on to the next memorial.

It was the last one.

"Cameryn Jane Staple."

There was a small picture of when I was young, about seven years old right next to the stone. My hair was in pigtails and the flyaways blew in the wind. My glassy sapphire eyes seemed to penetrate the glass frame and stare into mine. I almost cried. I didn't know what to do, I didn't know what to say, and I felt as dead as people think I am. It seemed as if the stars would fall out of the sky, my whole life was never real, and the world around me would deflate. I couldn't move. Blue filled over my vision and turned the cherry blossom petals a sick purple. The music of the stones rang loud, distorted and insane. I felt like this torture would go on forever, and once again I felt the urge to run. However, before I could move, a hand reached out of the stillness and landed on my shoulder. I shakily turned around and saw it was Jen. She was teary-eyed too and looked hurt, and there was a new empty look in her eyes that made her look depressed.

"Don't worry, Cam, we're all on the same boat here." She replied, a genuine smile on her face.

"And plus, think of all the people we could scare! I mean, Mrs. Shafer, those nasty kids down the street, and the kids at school!" Jennifer's smile turned into a grin. "Melody, too!"

I froze.

"Melody?"

"Yeah, your twin sister, Duh! Her memorial isn't here, so she's alive, right?"

It took me a long time to realize what my sister was saying. I had completely forgotten everything about myself when I met the turtles. I didn't even realize that my own twin's memorial wasn't there. I knew that this empty lot was more neatly kept up than if no one was here to do it, and I knew that if Jen and I had made it out of the fire, there should be others too. However, I couldn't risk the agony of bringing up my past. It was almost like throwing up, in the way that it made your throat burn and whatever came up was completely nasty and horrible. A long time ago, through memories too transparent to relive, I remembered my closest sibling.

"That's... It, that means that Melody's alive!" I exclaimed. There wasn't one for Melody. That means that she's alive. She's somewhere, and me need to find her.

"Hey, Cam, there's something on the back of your stone!" Donatello exclaimed. To my surprise, there was something etched into the gray surface. It was in small writing and looked like it was carved by a stick or small rock. Everyone else rushed to my side and squinted at the small message on the back of the stone. I shivered as I knelt down and began to read the message.

"I love you Cammy, you'll always be my twinnie. Mel." I said in a trembling voice. The sickening sensation that began when I first saw this empty lot intensified by a thousand as I took in what this meant.

"Yep, that proves it." Jen noted.

"Melody is ALIVE." I announced.


XXXXX

"So someone else in your family is alive?" Raph's voice was traced with annoyance and confusion.

"We have to find her." I announced.

"Wait, what? Why would you want to find this girl?" Raph announced.

"She's Jen and my SISTER. We HAVE to find-" I was cut off by the soft sound of someone walking down the sidewalk.

"Hide!" Leo ordered. The turtles immediately disappeared and Jen and I jumped behind the far fence on the other side of the lot. Just in time, because a girl wearing a light blue dress walked around the corner. What startled all of us was that she looked exactly like me, but she was slightly shorter. Her skin tone was slightly darker than mine, and her sapphire blue eyes were lined with the faintest touch of makeup. She had long hair just like mine, that was perfectly combed and flowed down to her mid-back. The frail wind brushed at the delicate ends of her hair, causing the sun to leave traces of gold across it.

"Woah," I could hear Leo murmur from.

What was he "woah"ing at, again?

Jealousy pulsed through me like a furious tsunami as she knelt down and put flowers in front of each memorial.

"I think she's Melody!" I exclaimed quietly.

"Yeah. I see the resemblance." Jen snapped back quietly. I didn't think she was taking this easily.

"Melody!" A voice far away called. She turned around and saw two tall men walk into the lot. One was thin and wiry, and the other one was tall and extremely burly.

"Yes?" She stood up and faced both of them.

"You are going to miss a very important business call with the Saki business!" The thinner one said. I could hear someone gasp at the name 'Saki.' It was vaguely familiar to me.

"But my family comes first!" Melody gestured to the fancy stones.

"However, the Saki business is our biggest proprietor!" The burly one announced.

"Fine, fine. But i'm coming back later!" Melody replied in an obnoxious tone. She almost seemed childish, except for her... Adult like figure. And if you look at me, i'm basically a twig. A kick-butt ninja twig with a scythe, that is.

On instinct we all decided to follow Melody. We watched her walk down the sidewalk with both of the men at each of her sides.

"Wow, she must be really rich to have two personal servants!" Mikey exclaimed.

"Or maybe they lost a bet!" Jen joked.

"Guys stop joking around! This is serious business!" Leo ordered.

"Or maybe it's because you have a crush on the hottie!" Raph exclaimed. Leo looked at me and then back at Raph.

"Wha? No! Why would I-" Leo was cut of by a slap in the face from me.

"She's my identical twin!" I grumbled loudly, turning away from Leonardo as I crossed my arms.

"Doesn't look like it!" Raph said.

I gritted my teeth in anger as I felt myself blush madly. Why would he say that? A whizzing sound came from behind me, and I turned around to see a rusty frying pan smack into Raphael's head.

"OW! WHAT THE HECK?" All of us looked at where it came from and we saw an innocent-looking Jen whistling some random song, hands behind her back. Surprisingly, Raph turned around and walked away, grumbling angry gibberish to himself.

"Thanks, sis." I whispered to Jen. Donatello heard me and chuckled.

"No problem, I never leave home without it!" Jen picked up the frying pan and spun it around.

"Where do you keep that thing?" I asked.

"Why do you think I wear such a baggy shirt?" Jen asked. She stuffed the frying pan up the back of her shirt and it seemed to disappear, causing me to gawk in surprise at her strange behavior.

"Jennifer, that is weird." I noted, following the other four as they trailed behind Melody.

Leo stood at the edge of the parapet of one of the buildings and said, "look! They're going into the Staple Skyscraper!"

"No duh, Staple is our last name!" Jen exclaimed.

We went to the building next to the staple skyscraper, which was significantly smaller than the giant tower made of panels of glass and metal. The tower was also in an odd shape, and almost looked like a giant crystal made of glass jutting out of the ground.

"This thing is pretty impressive!" Raph exclaimed.

"Yeah, and think about the complicated infrastructure! It must take an intelligent architect in order to-"

"Shut up, Nerdatello." Jen cut him off.

"So, here's the plan." Leo told us.

"Oh, great." I grumbled.


XXXXX

Jen and I were forced to abandon our weapons and tied our masks around our necks to resemble scarves. I, of course, did this many times when the turtles couldn't go up to the surface and I could. Jennifer, however, disliked this. She reluctantly stepped forward and walked through the giant entrance doors. The turtles were carefully watching our every move from another building. Inside, there were many business men and women dressed in suits scurrying around to do their work as if they were ants all living in the same colony. I always wondered what my dad did for a living. I caught a glimpse of Melody's light blue dress through the crowd.

"Come on, Jen!" I urged my stubborn sister. We raced over to see Melody get on an elevator. Each elevator was plated with mirrors, so I could see her press the button S3 right before the doors closed. Jen and I raced into another, and pressed the same button. We saw four shadows jump in as well right before the doors closed.

"Woah, what kind of thing is this?" I heard Mikey's voice ask.

"It's an elevator, and it moves you from floor to floor without taking the steps." I explained. I suddenly realized that the elevator wasn't moving. I looked at the key panel and pressed the same button again.

There was a beep and a smooth voice announced, "please enter the code to go to private floors."

"Darn!" I shouted at the technology that kept me from my family, my past, my life.

"Does something need to be crushed? Because I'd be happy to-"

"No, Raph. Donnie, can you get us to floor S3?"

"Sure thing," Donnie opened a trap door in the floor of the elevator.

"Oh no, not climbing!" Jen screeched.

"Well, you're looking for YOUR sister!" Leo replied.

"Then you have to carry me!" Jen ordered. I face palmed.

"Let's just go!" I announced. Donnie, Mikey, Raph, and Leo jumped down. Leo of course was forced to carry Jen. I leaned over the edge of the trap door and saw the elevator shaft go down at least five more stories.

"Woah!" My voice echoed down the shaft.

"Cammy, be quiet!" Leo's voice echoed back. I jumped down and clung to one of the wires below the elevator. It took a long time of jumping from wire to wire, but finally we reached the closed elevator doors that said 'S3' painted in giant white letters.

"Donnie, can you open this?" I asked.

"No, but I can!" Raph grunted as he wedged the doors apart.

"Thanks for letting the whole building know that we are here, Raphael!" Leo sneered.

"Don't worry, I don't think she heard it." I replied, peering out of the entrance to see

"Come on. We should stick together." Jen claimed.

"Yeah, let's go." Leo ordered. We jumped out of the elevator shaft to see a highly modernized room that had a house-like demeanor. I could tell that a girl lived here because there were varied colored beanbags scattered around and girly colored couches in front of a giant flat-screen tv. Donnie walked over to the tv and then other parts of the room mumbling overly scientific praises about how unique and technologically advanced everything must be. At the side of the room there were two light lavender French doors.

"Come on, guys!" Leo gestured towards the doors.

"But… how do we know where Melody went?" Mikey asked.

"We just keep on searching until we find her!" Leo ordered. I think he might actually have a pretty big crush on my sister. I've never seen him be so uptight and intent on finding something. As jealous as I had to be of my sister's beauty, it was love at first sight, I guess.


XXXXX

We slipped through the shadows of the dim lighting of the hallway, masked before by the lavender doors that were a part of the .

The first room we came to was small and dark. Mikey flipped on the lights and revealed an old-fashioned film-developing studio. We immediately moved onto the next one, which was almost like a little kid gym. It had trampolines, bouncy slides, almost everything that would make a kid happy. The next room was a flight of stairs. We went down the stairs to discover a fully equipped sports center, something only the rich would have for themselves with a pool, sports fields, a workout room, and many others. We retraced our steps back up to the hallway and went on to the next room. The next one was brightly lit with a drawing table, a tv, and a computer. There were also fancy looking markers and pens neatly organized beside the desk.

"Whoa, this is so cool!" Jen whispered. "I wish I lived here!"

"Well we technically do." I clarified. Jen shot me a nasty look. We went to the next room, which was full of vastly ranges musical instruments. There was a keyboard, a guitar, and many assorted string and wind instruments.

"Whoa," I murmured in a quiet voice. I stood in the doorway and took in the luxury of the sight. We all immediately turned around and saw the last door of the hallway. I slowly walked towards it and opened the door. Inside it looked like a colorful, fuzzy, girly explosion of rugs, beanbags, chairs, and other furniture. The carpet was a lavender color and it had blue beanbags, drapes that looked out into paintings of the sky and also blue beds and dressers. The walls were the palest shade of pink, almost like the setting sun. The doorways and wall shelves were a pastel green. I loved this room, and obviously so did Jen because she ran and jumped onto the bed face-first like a bellyflop. However, the turtles were disgusted by such a girly sight. After living their whole life in the muddy, grimy, dark and dim sewers, this sight nearly burnt their eyes out.

"Sooooo, i'm guessing this is Melody's room?" Leo asked.

"Of course!" I told him.

I eyed a purple baby grand piano in the corner of the room. It didn't blend in, but it didn't stand out. It was just sitting there, the déjà vu and vague memories from a different past pressing me to step towards the black and white, perfectly carved and flawless keyboard.

"Whoa, did I even see that when we walked in?" Mikey asked, pointing to the alluring piano. At that I walked over and sat down on the velvet piano seat.

"Cam, you play the piano?" Raph asked.

"It's been a really long time..." I murmured as I ran my fingers gently over the polished wooden keys.

"Please play something for us, Cam!" Mikey begged.

"I'll try," I started. I felt my foot move towards the piano pedal and my fingers straighten out, and then move to their correct place on the keyboard. My mind blurred as my limbs moved mechanically, as if they've always known what exactly to do. I played the first note of a piano piece that I thought my mind had forgotten. Each proper note fell after the other, creating a beautiful slow melody. Like jumping into cold water, I suddenly recalled the rest and my fingers flew across the crescendo scales swiftly and thoroughly. I hit every staccato, legato, sharp and flat perfectly, like the rolling ocean waves on a bright, sunny day. My fingers floated through the decrescendos, elegantly guided by me this time like the gentle wind blowing snow rhythmically from soft grey clouds hanging below the sky. I recalled myself as a seven-year-old girl playing the time for the very first time, struggling to play with such velocity and meaning. I felt stillness everywhere except for my own breathing; all I saw was the blur of my fingers black and white piano keys, and all I heard was the sound of the wonderful music.

TBC