Chapter Three

Author's note and disclaimer: Fueled with Disney music and strawberry water I will push through and edit this chapter. Three chapters a day I should be done quickly.

"I have no idea what to do." Master Splinter bluntly said. Donnie and April sat before the rat master completely shocked.

"What do you think her dream meant?" Donatello asked, hoping that April could at least have some questions answered.

Master Splinter thought for a moment, combing through his beard as he often did when he needed to deeply think on the matter. "Perhaps it's your mind's way of dealing with Haley's death. A year has passed since Haley left us and maybe you have some unresolved emotions that you need to sort out. I suggest you meditate on the matter."

"But if it was just a way for my mind to cope with her death, how did I get her message? And how did I get these bruises?" April asked, showing Master Splinter her bruises once more.

"Perhaps you're being haunted by Haley's ghost."

"I think it's more than that Master Splinter, I really do." April muttered. Her brow furrowed and her fists shook against her knees. Remembering Haley's frightened expression was enough to unnerve the usual level headed teenager. "You didn't see what I saw. You didn't see how horrible and scared Haley looked."

Donnie grabbed one of April's fists and took it into his hand, flattening it before her nails dug deeper into her skin. "Master Splinter, isn't there anything you can do? Just until I figure out what the coded message means?"

"There is something we can try."

Donatello, April and Master Splinter said in unison: "Mediation."

Master Splinter glared at his two students.

"Sorry, Master Splinter. Go on." April gave him his best smile, trying to honey him into helping them.

"We will meditate, but this time I will be with you. I will travel with you into your dream. See what you see, feel what you feel. Four eyes are far better than two and with my heightened abilities I'll be able to sense more than you."

"What about the guys?" Donnie asked, checking over his shoulder to see if his brothers were approaching the dojo.

"I will send them to the dump yard. We need supplies and it will take them a few hours to find everything." Master Splinter ordered as he stood, mumbling something about needing a new string for his Shamisen.

April and Donnie beamed at each other and remained in the room a few minutes longer, until they heard Mikey complaining about going on the errand. Their leader asked if the genius was coming, but Donnie refused—saying that he was working on something else for their father. Once the three were gone Donnie went to his room to get a few books on coding, several drinks and retreated into the depth of his labs.

Master Splinter and April prepared themselves for their journey by dimming the lights in the dojo and lit a few candles. They concentrated on their breathing, April focused on where she needed to take her master and the two were so far gone that not even an angry Leather Head would be able to pull them out of there meditation.

"Where are we April?" Master Splinter asked as he looked around the grey room.

"We're in Haley's room, in the apartment she lived in after Oliver's murder." April replied. "She should be showing up any moment."

While they waited Master Splinter looked around the emotionless room. He wasn't surprised by the guitars in the corner or the school books stacked neatly on the desk. On the wall to his left was a board full of ticket stubs from concerts and pictures of Haley and her parents, of April and Casey. Her bookshelf was barren, save for a few books she read out of pure interest and mementos from major events in her life. One in particular was one of Raphael's Sais.

Master Splinter was about to ask April about the weapon, but she spoke first. "I don't get it. She should have showed up by now."

"I'm no expert when it comes to dreams, but they are free flowing. Perhaps if we stopped trying to will Haley here…"

"Then she might come to us" April finished his thought.

They each took a deep breath, relaxed every muscle in their body and before they knew it they were in a different area. A place that April wasn't familiar with, but Haley was there and that was all that mattered. She was dressed in the same clothes as before; her face was as stoic as ever, but seeing her was a little jarring. Master Splinter approached her, he was about to touch her shoulder, but drew his hand back.

Master Splinter spoke gently, "We have come to help you Haley."

"You can't. It's too late." Haley turned around to reveal a burning building. Several men, dressed in several layers, wearing helmets and masks were running to and from the home. "This has already happened. There is no saving her."

"This is…" Master Splinter turned towards April. Her mouth hung open and her eyes were wide, "This is where your mother died?"

Haley nodded numbly, "Yes. I was goofing off with some friends from school when our neighbor called me. I had never ran so fast in my life. By the time I got there, the house was completely engulfed in flames and the fire chief had ordered his men back because the house wasn't safe. A few days later they found my mother's body underneath parts of the roof. Thankfully she had already died and didn't suffer from the flames."

"Why are you showing us this?" Master Splinter asked.

Haley shrugged, "I don't know. My mind has been wondering lately. It's really annoying. I'm seeing things I don't want to see, things that have been pushed hard to the back of my mind. It hurts my head."

"But…it can't hurt." April muttered, "You're dead."

"Aren't I though?" Haley asked, catching them off guard. "Why do I have these memories?"

The burning house flashed to a dark alley. April and Master Splinter gathered, partly because they didn't know what would come at them and because they were cold. Their breath fogged in front of their face. A man screamed out, the two turned to face him to see a young woman run her sword through his chest.

"That isn't you, Haley! You've never killed before!" April pointed at the frozen memory. "Your hair has never been short!"

"Look at her closely April." Haley tilted her head towards the woman's face. "Remove the mask and take a good, hard, look at her."

Master Splinter was the one to remove the woman's mask and took a step back for April to see. Seconds later, they were glancing between Haley and this girl's face. Their eyes widened, almost bulging from their head.

"This person has my face and she's killing with my hands." Haley walked up to the stranger. "I can't tell you when this happened or who this girl is with. All I get are glimpses, fragments of these memories until they disappear."

"What do you mean disappear? Memories just don't vanish."

"They do if they're being repressed." Master Splinter defended Haley's claim. "Which means this girl is being controlled."

"But by who?" April questioned.

"Did you figure out my clue?" Haley asked.

"Donnie is working on it. You couldn't have just written the bad guy's name, you just had to be cryptic." April sarcastically said.

"I was afraid that he would find out." Haley wrapped her arms around her body. "Every time I think I'm getting close, I get pushed back into the darkness. It's terrifying. All I hear are screams of pain and laughter because of that pain. I just want peace."

"We'll help Haley, but we need more than just your code." April pleaded.

"I can't."

"Yes you can." April approached Haley, but she was pushed back by harsh winds.

"No I can't! I don't have anything else I can give you! I just want this to end! I'm tired of fighting! I'm tired of it all!" Haley fell to her knees, her hands clutching her head. "I just want to disappear."

Master Splinter grabbed Haley by the shoulders, dragged her to her feet and enveloped her in a tight, warm, embrace. "If you are alive, if we can save you, then we must. We won't give up until you are back home safe. We will fight our hardest to get you back. Leonardo, Donatello, Raphael, Michelangelo, April, Casey and myself—we will fight to bring you back."

"But we can't do that without your help." April added softly.

"I don't know…" Haley pushed away from Master Splinter. They could see in her eyes that her confidence was shrinking—being replaced by fear. "No, I can't…"

The walls around them began to shake and the ground beneath their feet cracked.

Haley shouted, "You have to go! Get out of here! He'll see you!"

Master Splinter quickly grabbed April by her bruised wrist before the red head bolted for Haley. "What are you doing? We still need information."

"That will have to wait." Master Splinter pulled April close to him, "Whatever this is Haley is terrified of it. We must wake up. Concentrate April. If you don't you could end up lost as well."

"You guys okay?" Leonardo asked. He, Raphael and Michelangelo were standing inches away from them with perplexed expression.

Master Splinter glanced at April. A sigh of relief escaped from his lips, "We are fine Leonardo. We were just working on April's meditation. How did you fair, my sons?"

Everyone walked into the kitchen to gander at the loot the boys managed to find and some things they thought they would need. April's phone buzzed in her pocket. She turned to read the new message and saw the time. She almost let out an audible gasp when she realized that they had been in their trance for three hours. It seemed almost impossible, but after the last few years she was willing to accept the oddities in her life.

After reading Donnie text, April was able to sneak away from the other and into his lab.

"What did you find?" She immediately asked as she approached his work area.

Donatello was acting unusual, unusual for him at least. He didn't respond to her right away. He seemed too afraid to even mention what he had found. Donatello was fidgeting—only doing that when something catastrophic was about to happen.

"Donnie whatever it is, I can take it." April reassured him with one of her brightest smiles.

He took a deep breath before he dove into his long explanation about how he found the answer. Even though she couldn't exactly follow what he was saying, April let him. She noticed that it calmed him down a little, but eventually he needed to get to the point.

"I'm rambling, aren't I?" He asked nervously.

April cringed, "A little."

"Right, straight to the answer then." Donnie punched in his calculations into his computer and let them do the rest as April watched as the coded message turned into English.

She backed up right into the wall, her hand covering her mouth. "No."

In big, fat, bold letters the word shredder was painted on the screen.

"We need to tell the guys." Donnie slowly closed his lap top, "The Shredder is back."

Author's note: Insert X-Files theme song here. Was this predictable? I kind of feel like it was. Remember to review. Reviews give me life.