Chapter 25 please enjoy! =)
Chapter 25
Raphael opened his eyes. It was dark in his room. He frowned. How had he gotten to his room? He wondered. Hadn't he been sleeping with Katherine? He took a look around the room. In the dark he couldn't make out any details. The door opened and he looked at Michelangelo in confusion as he walked into his room.
"Mikey how'd I end up in my room?" He asked in confusion. "Where's Katherine?" He asked in panic. "She isn't still sleeping is she?" He looked at his little brother who looked at him in shock. He tossed the covers aside and stood.
"Raph, maybe you had better sit down." Michelangelo said calmly.
"What happened to her?" Raphael whispered.
"Raph, Katherine is...fine." Michelangelo said, but Raphael noticed the pause.
"Mikey..." He growled.
"Just..." Michelangelo held out his arms. "Donny, Raph's up!" He yelled over his shoulder.
"Mikey..." Raphael growled a cold finger of worry sliding down his back.
Michelangelo walked to Donatello as he entered the room, whispered something in his ear and Donatello nodded.
"Donny, Mikey's freaking me out, where is Kitten, is she okay?" He tried walking past his brother.
"Katherine is...resting. You've been asleep for most of the day Raph, I want you to just sit for a minute while I check all of your vitals." Donatello said soothingly.
"I don't want you to check my anything. I want to go see Kitten Donny." He snapped at his brother in frustration.
"You can see her, after I make sure you're okay." Donatello said pushing him back onto the bed. He grumbled but let his brother poke and prod at him for a few minutes.
"You done?" He asked as Donatello stood back and nodded at Michelangelo. Donatello nodded. "Where is she Donny?" He asked as he strode out of his room. He did a double take as he realized he was in Leonardo's room. He frowned.
"She's in my room." Donatello said quietly.
Raphael stopped. He frowned. "Why is she in your room Donny?" He asked. His brother just gave a shrug.
Raphael walked to Donatello's door and opened it. He stopped in the doorway. Katherine had an oxygen mask over her face and he could barely even make her out she was so pale against the white sheets.
"Donny, what happened?" He whispered as he rushed to her side. "How did I end up in Leo's room, why is she here?" He questioned as dread rolled through him. "Something happened." He said wretchedly as he grabbed at a pale hand. He held her cold limp hand in his and looked at her.
"Yes, something happened. I was just about to take her mask off. She seems to be breathing better now." Donatello said as he moved him out of the way, removing the mask from her face.
"What happened Donny?" He asked in a barely audible, horrified whisper.
"We will have to ask Katherine when she wakes up." Donatello said patting him gently on the shoulder.
"All I remember is falling asleep. I don't remember anything after that." Raphael said looking at Donatello.
"Well, we won't know anything until she wakes up. You had better go see the girls, they have been asking about you constantly and we are trying to keep them away from Kitten, she needs to rest." Donatello said shooing him out of the room. "Don't worry, I'll get you if Kitten wakes up." Donatello said with a smile that didn't reach his eyes. Raphael nodded as he walked down the hall to try to find Starlight and Starbright.
He found them in the library with Leonardo. Leonardo looked up at him and froze. He had been reading the girls a story, each was sitting curled up on his lap.
"Daddy!" Starlight said as she leapt from Leonardo's lap. She ran to him and he gave her a hug, lifting her off the ground. "How do you feel? Daddy Leo says you were sleeping cause you weren't feeling good, but you look fine." She said to him.
He smiled down at her bright face. "I'm fine." He said. "Hey, how about you and your sister go and pick out a movie for us to watch, and I'll be right there. I just need to have a talk with Daddy Leo, okay?" He said to them.
They shrugged and nodded leaving him with his older brother who closed the book he had been reading to them. "Alice in Wonderland?" He asked looking at the book in his hand.
"I believed it to be apt." Leonardo said standing up and placing the book on the table by the chair. "Besides the library doesn't have too many children's books." He said with a shrug.
Raphael frowned at his brother. Leonardo was reserved. He searched his brother's face and found anger, hurt, betrayal and under all of these emotions, worry. He swallowed. "All I remember is sleeping Leo. I don't remember anything else. Donny said we won't know what happened until Katherine wakes up. I want her to tell you about Kaethryn, about what happened the night Donny woke up, but...I don't want to hurt Donny. It involves him and Katherine doesn't want him to blame himself for..." Raphael cut himself off before he said too much. Leonardo gave him a surprised look but nodded as he looked at the book again. "Did I protect her Leo?" He asked softly.
Leonardo's eyes widened as he looked at him. "I just...I was scared, and I couldn't let her face whatever she had to face alone. But, I think I failed her, I think...Did she face it alone?" He asked miserably.
Leonardo was silent. "I don't know Raph. I wish I could tell you, but I don't know." He said truthfully.
He looked away from his brother's angry, yet sad, gaze. "Nothing happened between us Leo. We just slept." He said to his brother.
Leonardo closed his eyes. "I know." He said to him as he strode towards the door.
"Are we good Leo?" Raphael asked him. He had realized as soon as he had seen the hurt and betrayal in his brother's eyes, that he never wanted to be the one to put that look onto his brother's face again.
Leonardo stopped at the door, his hand on the handle. "I don't know yet Raph." He said softly.
Leonardo left the library. He felt hurt and betrayed, but knew he didn't have the right to feel the way he was. He had no claim on Katherine, not really. He wasn't even sure what the hell they were doing.
The problem was that he couldn't blame his brother for his actions. Katherine was right. The knowledge that somehow Donatello triggered whatever had happened would, and had, hurt Donatello. Donatello was again blaming himself for Katherine's current state.
Leonardo began walking to the training room, he needed to clear his head. He needed to rid himself or the anger he felt towards his brother. The problem was that if it had been he that night and not Raphael, he would have done exactly the same thing. He would have slept in her bed to watch over her, made sure that he was able to wake her from nightmares so real they could kill her; and he would have done it with the knowledge that if his brothers ever found out, they would believe that he had betrayed them, somehow used the incident to further his relationship with her.
Leonardo pulled out his swords and began a series of practice routines. He was also angry because he was unable to confront Raphael over what had happened last night. Donatello strongly advised them against giving him any information or repeating anything Raphael had said to them last night. Donatello believed that Raphael may bring his memories to the surface and this was something they could not let him do.
Leonardo paused. His heart hammered in his chest his breathing was laboured and sweat trickled down his sides and neck. He closed his eyes in despair. The thought that Katherine had gone through something so traumatic that it would destroy her mind terrified him. It terrified him that Raphael's sanity was now sitting on the brink, where one tiny shove could push him over.
He screamed in frustration as his swords arched down, slicing through a training dummy. Leonardo closed his eyes. Now he owed Katherine a new training dummy.
He opened his eyes.
Donatello burst into the room. His eyes were wide with panic, his breathing, heavy. "She's gone." He said in a strained voice.
"Who's gone?" He asked sheathing his swords as icy fingers trickled over his skin.
"Katherine. I left her alone for a few hours. She was sleeping soundly and I didn't think she would wake anytime soon. Mikey was checking in on her every once in a while, but he got distracted playing with the girls and when he realized it had been two hours since he checked on her, he went to my room and found it empty. Mikey is keeping Raph and the girls distracted, but you need to help me find her!"
Leonardo looked at his younger brother grimly. "You start in the attic, I'll take the basement, we'll work our way through the house. Are her vehicles still here?" He asked.
Donatello nodded. "I was in the garage she didn't go through that way and we checked the front door and the back door, there are no footprints in the snow so she is still somewhere in the house."
Leonardo nodded. "Let's go." He said with determination. It wasn't like her to just disappear.
Two hours later they were still no closer to finding Katherine. They had searched everywhere while trying to keep Raphael from knowing what it was they were doing. Donatello had then dragged him into Katherine's room. The room still smelled of smoke and there were scorch marks on the bed where she had started to burn.
"What's happening to her Donny?" He asked as his fingers brushed the burnt bedding.
"I wish I knew Leo. I'm not very good at things that defy logic. And this completely defies logic and the laws of physics." He said with a wretched shake of his head. "I did this." He whispered.
"Donny, don't start this again. It wasn't as if you said Kaethryn's name on purpose, and even if you had, it isn't as if any of us could have known of the consequences of your doing so." Leonardo pointed out reasonably.
Donatello's shoulders slumped. "I know, and I know that no matter what, Katherine would never blame me, but I don't even know where the name came from. And according to Raphael it wasn't a nightmare, but a memory, but a past life memory? That is so hard to believe. And why, if these really are memories of a past life, would they turn deadly?" Donatello asked in frustration. "None of this makes any sense." He clenched his fists in frustrated anger.
"Are we looking through the passage?"Leonardo asked trying to distract his brother.
Donatello blew out a breath. "Yes. It is the only place we haven't looked. But there could be other passages we haven't looked through because we don't even know where they are. Not to mention the fact that I know there were a set of steps leading down to the main floor and we couldn't find them last time." Donatello walked to the bathroom and opened the secret door.
The darkness behind the door was somehow even more ominous than before. Donatello turned on the flashlight shining it down the passage. They walked all the way to the end without any luck finding either Katherine, or the stairway that Donatello swore was in the passage. They walked back and checked the walls of the passage again looking for anything that may open another passage but they had no success. "I know she's in here somewhere Leo. I can feel it. She's right through here." He insisted as they both stared at the wall.
"Are you looking for mommy?" A child's voice said from behind them.
Leonardo jumped, startled and surprised. Starbright stood looking at him. "How did you get in here?" He asked.
Starbright frowned. "Through the door." She said pointing to the open door that was illuminating part of the passageway.
Leonardo closed his eyes. "Where is your sister?" He asked, opening his eyes.
"She is with Daddy Raph and Daddy Mikey. The man doesn't want you to find mommy." She said to him.
Leonardo felt his blood run cold. He slowly knelt down in front of her. "What man?" He asked, fear leaking into his voice.
"The man that always follows mommy around." She said with a shrug.
"Where does this man follow mommy?" Leonardo asked his hands grabbing Starbright's.
"He's always with mommy. He is always standing behind her, always watching." She said.
Leonardo swallowed through a throat that was too tight, a mouth that was too dry. "This man did something to mommy?" He asked.
"He's waiting, and he doesn't want you to stop her. He's the one that keeps giving mommy the card. I think he's trying to tell her something." She said to him with a shrug.
"What has he said to you?" He asked, trying to stop the creeping dread that was threatening to overwhelm him.
"He doesn't talk, but he is hiding mommy from you, so he must not want you to find her. He is worried. But I can show you where mommy is." She said to him.
"You know where she is?" He asked in surprise.
"Mommy is in the heart of the house." She said to him.
"Show us." He said softly as he stood.
She continued to hold his hand and reached out to take Donatello's. Donatello was looking grey and he knew he must not be looking much better. Starbright turned them to face the wall they had been staring at in frustration, but now it wasn't a wall, there was a staircase that led down.
Leonardo swallowed and began walking down the steps.
Halfway down the stairway he stopped. He looked down at his feet which were buried in lush green grass. He looked at the walls which again seemed to be made of whole trees and wooden boards, but these trees had branches and leaves.
Starbright pulled them along until they reached a heavy wooden door. The door had been stained a deep burgundy colour and was carved with what looked to be runes. "Donny can you read this?" He asked.
"It just says 'heart'" Starbright said as she let go of their hands and turned the door handle pushing open the door.
They walked into the room that was lit by lamps. Katherine was sitting on a golden couch furiously drawing and talking to herself. Scattered around the room and plastered on the walls were drawings. Hundreds and hundreds of sketches of what looked to be children.
"Stop crying and tell me." Katherine said to herself. She stared in front of her intently as her pencil moved furiously across the page. She flipped the page over and began writing. "Okay next." She said. "No not you, you lot stay there until I am finished with this line, then I will get around to you. " She said with irritation.
"Starbright, can you see who your mommy is talking to?" He said as he looked around the room with dawning realization and horror.
Starbright shook her head. "But the man is standing behind mommy watching her."
Leonardo looked behind Katherine but didn't see anything. He looked at Donatello who was looking ill. "What do we do Donny?" He whispered to his brother. "Has she...?" He couldn't finish his question.
Donatello looked around him and closed his eyes in acknowledgement of his question. Donatello believed that Katherine's mind had broken with whatever it was she had seen, whatever it was that she had experienced.
"Just a minute." She said to someone in front of her. Katherine turned her attention to them. "Raphael had better not be with you." She growled at them in irritation.
"No Raphael is with Mikey and Starlight." Donatello said soothingly.
Leonardo bent down and picked up one of the pieces of paper that was laying on the floor. A girl around Starlight and Starbright's age stared back at them. The sketch was well done in pencil, but she looked sad. He turned the paper over and Leonardo read details. There was a name Katelyn Balliol, age 5, throat slit by uncle.
Leonardo looked at the papers that littered the floor. He reached down and picked up a handful. They were all girls ranging in age from 2 years old to around 10 at the most. All had been murdered. Leonardo felt his hands shake as the papers fluttered to the floor.
Is this what Raphael had seen, the murder of hundreds upon hundreds of little girls? Hundreds upon hundreds of little girls with Katherine's eyes?
Even thought the sketches were in black and white, and the faces changed and the colour of the hair and skin was either lighter or darker, the eyes were always the same.
"Donny." He said in horror.
Donatello walked over to Katherine and put a hand on her shoulder. She didn't even acknowledge him as she continued to draw.
"Katherine you have to stop." He said as he tried to still her hands.
"I can't stop Donatello. Not until I am finished." She said flipping the paper over and madly scribbling down the girl in the drawing's information. "If I stop they will overwhelm me and drive me insane." She said to him.
"There is no one here." Donatello said as he glanced behind him looking at the empty space where a man apparently stood.
"I know." She said. "They were all crying and screaming in my head and I had to make them stop. So I am organizing them in my mind. I am using my considerable imagination to imagine two lines of children. The ones on the right are all of those murdered by him." She pointed to a sketch of the stereotypical devil. "Of course that is his true form, not the form he murdered me...them in." She pointed to her left. "And that line is for the girls murdered by THEM."
"Who is them?" Donatello asked soothingly. Donatello obviously did not believe what she was saying.
She shrugged. "I don't know." She said. "That is what I am trying to figure out."
"Katherine is there someone standing behind you?" Leonardo asked.
Katherine didn't even look over her shoulder. "Yes. Can you see him?" She asked looking at him curiously.
"No, but Starbright says she can see him." Leonardo said looking at Starbright who was picking up the drawings and putting them into piles.
Katherine looked at Starbright and nodded. "Quit looking at me as if you believe I need a padded room and a straight jacket Donatello. I am not insane, but if I let them continue to talk in my head, their voices will overwhelm me and I will go insane." She said as she dropped another piece of paper to the ground.
"Raph?" Donatello asked her.
She closed her eyes and looked at Donatello. "If Raphael remembers what he saw I do not believe his mind will be able to take the strain of seeing me murdered as a child nearly a thousand times. He saw every single murder and even though I experienced every single murder, because it was me, I can handle the strain. Not being able to save me will rip Raphael apart."
"You truly believe that all of these girls were you?" Leonardo asked.
"Mommy's really old." Starbright said to her. "You have mommy's eyes now." She said walking over to Katherine and crawling into her lap.
"What do you mean? Her eyes were always green." Leonardo said in confusion.
Starbright shook her head. "Mommy's eyes are old and sad. And now, mommy has the same eyes." She said taking Katherine's face in her tiny hands and looking deep into her eyes.
"Can't you see that Daddy Donny?" She asked.
Donatello took Katherine's face in his hands and peered deeply into her eyes. Donatello let go of Katherine's face and Leonardo peered into her moss green eyes. There had always been something unnerving about really looking into Katherine's eyes. Mostly because it was as if she was able to peer right into his very soul, stripping him of all of his defences, leaving him bare, and unprotected. Now it was no less unnerving, but now there was a sadness and a knowledge within them that they had not possessed before. It was then that he realized that her eyes looked more like his, more like his brother's eyes. His jaded eyes looked at a the world filled with violence and hate. His innocence had been stripped away so long ago, and now that is what her eyes were missing. Katherine's eyes had been stripped of their innocence.
"What happened Katherine?" He asked her gently.
"I was forced into a memory. Kathlynn Faire's memory." She said pulling out a drawing of a girl about 10 years old. "She was accused of witchcraft and burned at the stake. But the dreams became real, just like when I remembered Kaethryn's memory." She pulled out a picture of a girl that was about 13 or 14 years old who was Katherine's image exactly.
"Kaethryn was the oldest at 14 when she was killed, but Kathlynn was probably the most powerful. I accidently pulled Raphael into both dreams or memories I suppose. However during Kathlynn's memory that monster," She said pointing to the sketch of the devil, "Made Kathlynn remember all of the times that he killed her. Incarnation through incarnation. He said. But he also said that he was not the only one who hunted her soul...my soul. But he said that at least he cared enough to kill me with his own hand, not just use accidents and twists of fate to kill me." She said to them.
Leonardo felt all of the blood drain from his face. He looked to Donatello who came to the same conclusion. There had been way too many freak accidents that had almost taken Katherine's life. Something was trying to kill her.
"I don't understand this." Donatello said waving to the room.
Katherine looked at him. "I have to organize the memories in some way. By taking each image and the memories that go along with the image, I can organize them into a book in my head. Once they are bound in a book or several books, their voices will be silenced because to me they will just become part of a story. Then I will place all of the books into a library where I can close the door and lock it. By doing this I should be able to keep my sanity." She said to Donatello. She looked at the empty space in front of her. "This will take some time, but know that I am fine. When I am done this I want you all to take the girls and go back to the lair."
Leonardo looked at her in confusion. "Why?" He asked as he began to get where her mind was going.
"Because I am not going to put you and the girls in danger. If something is after me I don't want you to get in its way." She said to him.
Leonardo glared down at her. "You don't get to decided my future or my fate, I do. If I become a target because of who you are, then I will take that chance." He growled at her, throwing the words she had angrily thrown at him back in her face.
She looked at him and laughed. "Hoist by my own petard, but you see Leonardo I have extra leverage." She said holding Starbright close. "Your life yes, hers, no."
He looked at Starbright. She was right. He couldn't let her face danger alone, but he couldn't risk the girls. He growled at her in frustration.
"But mommy we can't leave." Starbright said from her lap.
"Sweetheart listen to me. It is too dangerous..." She began.
Starbright shook her head. "He's trying to protect you, but...mommy's always strongest when she is protecting all of those she loves. If we leave, you won't be as strong. Daddy always says that we are stronger together than apart."
Leonardo blinked in surprise. That was something he always preached to his brothers.
Katherine frowned. "Who is trying to protect me?" She asked.
"Him." She said pointing behind the couch. "He's trying real hard but he isn't that strong." She said.
"Wait." Katherine said her mind thinking furiously. "Do you know who or what he is?" She asked.
Starbright frowned. "Well..." She paused. "Sometimes, Places of Power...are so much more."
"How do you know all of this?" She asked.
She shrugged. "He feels almost like Castellum." She said.
"Who is Castellum?" Donatello asked.
"He's the physical form of the Castle where we live. You aren't going to send us away are you mommy?" She pleaded to her.
Leonardo was already shaking his head. "We aren't going anywhere sweetheart. Except maybe out of here. Katherine?" He asked her.
She looked at him steadily. "I'm almost done. I'll be out in a bit and I will go and talk to Raphael." She said to him.
Leonardo nodded. Starbright slid off Katherine's lap. "Come on daddy." She said happily as she grabbed his hand.
"I'll stay with her Leo." Donatello said as he began grabbing at papers and putting them into a pile.
He watched as Katherine began drawing again. He felt a wave of relief wash through him as he realized that her mind had not broken, but there was something after her. This filled his heart with dread.