Chapter 5
A full two weeks had gone by since that night. The Turtles hardly spoke of the incident with the two girls, the huge parade, or the Ouija board experience again. With Halloween over, the four turtles had to hide themselves more whenever present in the public world above ground. Shadow continued to have on and off nightmares but in time, they were slowly starting to go away.
Late November was bringing on colder nights. The heat was turned up but the lair was like a fortress made of solid ice. The new month was expecting the temperature to drop all the way into December. Wollman Ice Rink opened up and brought out hundreds of families daily to either fall on the ice or have a warm cup of hot chocolate from the nearby concession stand. It was a week before Thanksgiving when the Turtles got an unannounced guest come flying into their lair, bug-eyed and out of breath.
"Guys! She saw them! She saw them!"
"Saw who, Shadow?" Leonardo asked as he and his brothers approached her.
"Jenalyn saw them! She saw Janet and Rosetta!"
All four asked her questions at a rapid fire. "Didn't we tell you not to talk about that anymore?" "And weren't you told you're not supposed to hang out with Jenalyn anymore?" "Where did she see them at?" "Did you guys use the Ouija board again?" Shadow blinked and stared to them. Man, it was like having six parents instead of two!
"Give her room to speak." Splinter said quietly from behind. "Shadow, dear, tell us what happened from the start." Correction, make that seven parents.
Shadow took a seat and was given a glass of water as she explained what happened. Jenalyn and her family went to the Wollman Ice Rink over the weekend and skated til closing. Before they left, Jenalyn's older sister spotted two skaters in the rink doing several figure eights and mostly keeping to themselves. One wore a red dress, the other in purple.
When Jenalyn got home, she turned to her computer to look up what they saw, figuring that was a more reliable and safer source than their Ouija board. Jenalyn typed up 'haunted Wollman Ice Rink,' getting a web site of places where ghosts were seen. One web site found a description of the two skaters, both named Janet and Rosetta Van der Voort. Both girls lived together on 14th Street just off of 5th Avenue in a brownstone mansion in the 1800's.
"Jenalyn wouldn't make up something like that." Shadow told them after gulping the last of her water. "She really saw them!"
"Okay, she saw them. So, what do you want us to do about it?" Mike asked.
"I just wanted you to believe me that they're real ghosts!"
"Hey, we believe you, okay?" Mike raised his hands in defense. "But, that's not the reason why we didn't want to talk about it anymore."
"Then, why?" Shadow asked.
"Look at what it did to you. It's just something we don't want to remember." Donatello said with an added sigh. "At first, we thought those two girls were just playing a Halloween trick on us by leading April and Casey out to Central Park for no reason. But then, when we heard what happened to you and Jenalyn with the Ouija board, I only wanted to push it more farther away from my mind."
"But, I don't want to do that. I want to see them again." Shadow said quietly.
"What for?" Michaelangelo asked.
"I felt bad for disturbing them with the Ouija board and I..." She looked away. "...felt I should owe them an apology."
"You want to apologize to a pair of ghosts?" Raphael asked.
"I guess." She shrugged. "They are people, you know! They do have feelings and emotions!"
"But, are you sure you want to go through with this?" Leonardo asked. "You were really traumatized that night we got you from Jenalyn's house."
"I know, but I want to see them....and tell them I'm sorry."
It was a simple enough request to agree to. Each day following, the family made several trips to the ice rink and every time, saw nothing unusual. People showed up to skate almost all the time, making the rink completely packed and the food stands making a fortune. Ghosts are never prompt, they told her, but each visit only made her more determined to stay out longer. Usual skaters at the place started to get suspicious of her when she became a regular in the stands, sipping her hot chocolate and staring out to the white, clear, ice rink. With the formation of a red nose and red cheeks, the others felt this was becoming an unhealthy obsession.
One day, far into mid-December, Shadow didn't come home from school. Her parents were worried sick and her uncles started an immediate search to find her. It didn't take long for them to realize where she had gone and all six rushed over to the Wollman Ice Rink as fast as they could. Sitting on one of the benches by herself was Shadow, shivering from head to toe and staring at a half-empty rink.
"There she is." She heard Raphael say as they all trotted over to her. "Hey, yo, chicky. How's the weather out here besides frigid? You still planning on seeing them or are you making arrangements to join them?"
"I'm fine." Shadow hugged herself. "Just let me wait a few more minutes to seven."
"Shadow, you've got to stop this." Michaelangelo came over and sat down next to her.
"If Jenalyn can see them, so can I." She mumbled with chattering teeth.
"I don't want to upset you, but, you may never see them again! You have to understand that this is not healthy for you to keep coming out here in the cold. I don't want to see you get sick over trying to see a pair of skating ghosts!" Michaelangelo stood up, motioning her to come with him. "Come on, let's go home and I'll make you some chicken soup and sandwiches."
"Okay." Sounded like a good deal. Shadow started to walk away backwards but then stopped to stand still. "..Guys..." She whined quietly. "Look...look!"
"What now.....whoa... hold up guys." Raphael turned in his tracks and stood there, peering out to the rink. "We've got something at nine o'clock."
Down on the ice was a very faded vision of two skaters appearing on the rink. Hand in hand, they skated with smiles on their faces. Shadow resumed her seat with a heavy thud and watched them do their figure-eights, laughing as they went. They looked so happy at what they were doing, happy like when Shadow and her family were out walking down the Halloween parade two months ago. Shadow saw and talked to those girls on Halloween night. And now, close to Christmas, she was seeing them again.
"Look at them, Casey." April whispered, almost in tears. "They just look so happy together."
"Heh, yeah. I hope I'm that happy when I'm dead." Casey said dreamily. Janet suddenly paused and looked up, skating over in their direction rather quickly. "Ut, oh. Incoming..." Shadow gripped onto Michaelangelo's arm as she neared the stands, floating right through the benches.
"Just be cool, Shadow." She was cool, in fact, they all literally felt a lot colder when the presence drew nearer to them. "Um...hi." Michaelangelo waved to be friendly. "I take it you girls come here often?"
"Casey...April...I wanted to thank you both for bringing us home." Her voice echoed and sounded muffled. "Looks as though we got lost that night when you found us." April and Casey nodded with transfix stares. For some reason, they seemed more scarier when their bodies were transparent!
"I'm....s-s-sorry...about the Ouija board." Shadow finally got the courage to say.
Janet looked down and muffled, "No harm done." With that said, the group watched her descend back on the ice next to her sister whom waited for her. The girls both giggled an echoing laugh and started to skate once more, slowly dissipating into the air.
Shadow looked up to her parents and with a shaky voice, said, "We can go home now!"
On the way home, Michaelangelo took one last look at the ice rink. "You know something? Either there is a huge lesson to be taught in all of this...or, this is just one of those crazy things we go through all the time."
"I dunno, Mike." Donatello said. "But, with your major attack of writer's block, I think you now have a plot to add for your story."
**********
You live again,
You live forever,
here you are young,
once more forever.
-Ancient Egyptain quote on the passing to eternity
THE END
