April nonchalantly flipped through the channels on the television. It was around 4:30 in the afternoon, everyone was still sleeping (even Donnie who fell asleep while working on another invention) and wouldn't get up at, estimatedly, 6 in the evening. She plopped on the couch, sighing in irritation while looking at the ceiling.
With another sigh of boredom, she forced herself to sit on the couch. She gazed at the turnstiles, her eyes venturing to the empty entrance. Now that she thought about it, she haven't seen what else lies on the subway station except that it's connected to the city's sewage system, according to what Donnie has told her.
Making a decision, she pushed herself off of the couch and took off into the abandoned subway station, carrying her phone to shed light into the darkness.
30 minutes into the subway station, she found another station, filled with unused, dusty, and graffitied train cars.
She turned around, hearing a rattle behind her, only to find nothing. She shook her head, dismissing the thought.
'It must be my imagination.' She assured herself, not wanting to scare herself due to the creepy aura the abandoned subway station radiates.
She walked again, hearing another set of rattle from the shadows but quickly dismissed it again.
'I better head back. I'll be in trouble if they find out that I went out on my own.' She thought.
She heard another rattle behind her, expecting not to see something. To her surprise, she saw a skeleton standing in its two feet.
The skeleton opened its mouth and waved its hand, "Hi!"
April fell on her butt and screamed,
"AHHHHHHHHH!"
(20 minutes after April left…)
Donnie let out a yawn and rubbed his eyes, shaking away the sleep. He stretched and slowly corrected himself into a sitting position on his chair.
Still feeling sleepy and trying to awake himself to get ready for their patrol, he groggily stood, stretching himself more. He walked into the common room, not a trace of anyone but himself.
'Huh…Usually April's sitting here and watching.' He shrugged. 'She must be in her room.' He thought. 'But why does it feel like something's wrong.'
The vampire turtle hybrid made his way to his former room, calming himself as not to embarrass himself in front of her. He gently knocked on the door, "April? Can I come in?"
No response. 'Could she be asleep?' Donnie thought. He checked his phone, "4:55". She wouldn't be sleeping at this time, right? With a shake of his head, he tried once more. He knocked on the door once again but careful not to disturb the others whose rooms were nearby.
The hybrid continued to knock on his former room, panic and paranoia struck him as he got no response each time he did so. Unable to ease his fear, he asserted, "April, I'm going in." He slowly twisted the knob and opened the door, only for him to gawk and stare in a horrified expression at the empty room.
With a swish of his lab coat, he dashed and ventured towards the deeper part of the abandoned subway station with his inhuman speed. A few minutes later, he heard a scream from a familiar female. His mind screamed, 'April!'
He set off with great speed, his fangs bared, his eyes were of menacing ruby red, ready to protect the girl and destroy whoever dared to hurt her. He stopped a few meters away from her. The redhead has fallen on her butt, a dark figure looming over her and its back was facing the vampire.
"Get away from her!" Donnie growled, his fangs ready and his stance was ready to pounce.
The skeleton turned to his direction and to April's surprise…
"Casey!" Donnie gasped, his body relaxing and he was even smiling at the stranger.
"D! Good to see ya!" The skeleton greeted, waving his hand at the turtle hybrid.
Donnie ran up to April and offered a hand; the redhead immediately took, letting the hybrid help her stand. "No need to be afraid, April. You see, Casey's been a friend of ours too."
The skeleton nodded, "That's right." He scratched the back of his skull and let out a chuckle, "Sorry for scaring you, by the way. I'm Casey Jones or Casey for short."
"Or as Raph and Miwa likes to call him: 'Casey Bones'." Donnie chuckled, remembering the moniker given to the skeleton.
"I-Is he…c-cursed too? By the…Black Curse?" April stammered, trying to get over her fear of the boney monster.
"Yes. I was born human like you; I was 18 years old when I died. I was one of the earlier victims of the Black Curse in New York. He put me in a sleeping spell which made everyone think that I'm dead so, it was decided that I had to be buried. After I was buried, my body began to rot until everything was gone except for my bones." Casey looked at his skeletal hands.
"When I woke up, first thing I did was find my parents and younger sister only to discover that all of them died." He sighed, remembering the painful memory. April and Donnie looked at him in concern and sympathy, they both knew how difficult it was to lose your family.
"I wish I could tell them that I was alive. I would have hugged and assured them that I'm all right. Heck, I expected to see my sister if I didn't have a chance to see my folks. She would be a beautiful grown woman, she would have kids of her own or even grandkids." He let out a dry laugh. He swore that if he had tear ducts, he would be a crying mess right now. "I would really love to see them just one more time."
The redhead bit her lip, trying to come up of words to comfort Casey. "I know how you feel. I was young when I lost my parents. But, I know there must be a reason why we are alive up to this day. If our parents were here, they'd be telling us to not waste our life. That's what we have to do." The freckled teen asserted.
Casey nodded at her, "You're right. There's no point in mourning over their death. We have to move forward, right?"
Donnie offered him a warm smile, "Indeed."
April raised a brow, "So, what were you doing here?"
"This is where I live. That is where I sleep." He pointed at a train car with a graffiti: "Casey was here", earning a giggle from April.
"So, how long have you been here?"
"50 years." Casey replied, earning a gasp from April.
April asked, "How old are you?"
"I'm 91." Casey chuckled, to which April cringed at the possibility of his jaw bone disconnecting.
"Why don't you live with Donnie and the others? You're friends, right?" April suggested, earning a stifled laugh from the vampire and a continuous head shake from the skeleton. "Did I say something wrong?"
The vampire cleared his throat and replied, "We tried that but…it didn't work out." April raised a brow. The hybrid grinned, "He's afraid of rats."
"I've been traumatized by those pests, all right?" Casey exclaimed in his defense. "I've been stuck with those dirty animals while I'm buried! Don't even ask me how! Just, don't!"
"Maybe you should try again. After all, Master Hamato is different. He's human and he still is, despite not looking like one. Deep inside, he's more human than most people topside." She smiled. "Besides, it's difficult to live alone and no one should; I know how being alone feels."
Casey nodded, "All right. I'll try." He reminded her, "I won't make any promises though."
"Speaking of…let's head back to the lair, April. We still have enough time to sneak you back as if nothing happened in the first place." Donnie said, beckoning her to go.
"Looks like you're getting babysat, huh?" Casey let out an amused chuckle.
"We'll explain it further some other time." The vampire replied with a smile of his own.
April asked the skeleton, "Are you coming with us?"
Casey shook his head, "Maybe next time."
"It would be difficult to explain to the others if they find out that you two already met; it would draw suspicions." Donnie pointed out.
"You're right, D. Leo would definitely go: 'mother hen'." Casey thought aloud, earning a snicker from both human and hybrid. He turned to April, "Tell you what: I'll come and visit the lair then we can pretend that we haven't met yet."
"That could work." Donnie hummed. "But, she wouldn't be frightened of you anymore."
"I could scare her." Casey grinned.
"Hello!" April waved a hand. "I'm right here. I could hear you." She rolled her eyes.
"Just messing with you, Red." The skeleton laughed.
Donnie smirked, "We'll burn that bridge when we get there." He turned to the direction of the lair, "For now, let's go."
April nodded before turning to Casey, "Nice to meet you, Case."
"Feeling's mutual, Red."
As they made their way back to the lair, April sighed and said, "Sorry for causing you trouble, Donnie. I was just bored so I decided to venture the lair."
Donnie shook his head and offered a smile, "It's all right, April. I know how hard it is to stay here. I don't blame you."
April looked on, a thought came to her. "I feel bad for Casey though. I can understand what he's feeling: to be all alone by yourself."
The vampire shook his head, "Casey's not alone anymore. He's our friend." He turned to the redhead, "So are you. We got your back, April."
"I'm lucky to have you guys." April thought aloud, "I hope Casey considers the offer though."
"Me too." Donnie murmured, despite having his brothers, he shared Casey's pain of losing his parents. The vampire couldn't imagine his life without the family they have founded through the years.
"So, how exactly did you meet Casey?"
Donnie grinned, "Actually, it was Raph who met him. Leo and Raph had a pretty intense argument from a few years back. Raph decided to leave the lair at that time, finding someplace he could release his pent up anger. At that same time, he met Casey. According to Raph, he and Casey had a rough start."
Donnie chuckled, "Raph's pretty skeptical with meeting new people. A trait he shares with Leo." He put a finger on his lips, still grinning, "Don't tell them I said that though." He cleared his throat, "Moving on… they continued to bicker and argue until they spotted a group of thugs. Suddenly, they just became the best of friends; Casey even helped my brothers to finally make amends."
Donnie chuckled, "Raph even invited him to live with us. But, like I said before, Casey wasn't comfortable with being in the same place as Master Hamato. Time passed by, Casey and I discovered that we have something in common."
"What's that?"
"We both like to build. We repaired one of those train cars and gave it a homey feel." Donnie thought. "Speaking of, we haven't continued our 'Shellraiser' project." The vampire explained, seeing April's confused look. "It's a transportation, allowing us to patrol the streets."
"That sounds practical." The human hummed in thought. "I would like to help. If that's okay?"
"Of course. It will be great if you'd help us and you won't need to think of ways to spend your time with and soon get into trouble, am I right?" The vampire hybrid winked, implying April's unsupervised trip to the subway station.
The redhead giggled, "Mhm… I learned my lesson. But, at least I made a friend, right?"
Donnie nodded, "Next time, just tell me, okay? We can't be too sure that they won't find us here. Besides, I don't want you to get hurt." The vampire realized his words, blushing. "Umm, I mean… we don't want you to get hurt. You're our friend, after all."
The duo finally arrived back at the lair, silence still shrouding the place and as if they didn't leave at all.
The freckled teen smiled, "Thanks, Donnie." He gave him a quick peck on the cheek, "For everything." She quickly walked into the direction of her room and locking herself in.
The vampire smiled dopely, slowly making his way to the lab. He touched his cheek and let out a hushed "whoop" and did a "victory" fist pump.