Disturbing Recollection

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   It was clear in his expression when he emerged from Leo's room not long later that Splinter was worried and disturbed for his son. Don, Mike and Raph felt clueless as to what was happening to Leo. They could no longer remember that night when they saw the lights in the sky. All they could recall was Leo having some minor fit, and bringing him home only to hear later that he had dreams that made him scream. They were confused, and it seemed no one was filling them in anytime soon.

   Leo's fright remained, yet another emotion was brewing inside; he was angry, he wanted to know why the bright lights were doing this to him. Why they were putting him through torture he felt ten years ago – and why did they do that ten years ago. He felt like a rat that could not escape the scientist's twisted fingers, and it made him feel trapped.

   The next three hours he spent in thought in his room. He did not leave his room for food or drink, and he didn't even get up. He lay on his bed, occasionally closing his eyes to think deeper – but every time he did so he saw another flash of a bright memory – and he heard his own five-year-old scream. This was the last thing he saw and heard before he snapped his eyes open, and set his mind. He would do all in his power to prevent another abduction, and use force if he must, to stop them altogether. He did not want to keep seeing the memories of his younger year experience every time he closed his eyes – and he knew that if he could at least know why he was being taken into this 'bright room', whatever the answer, at least he would know. He did consider the main conclusion for alien abduction: that to experiment and learn of the living beings on the planet – but the fact that there were only four mutated turtles in the entire world might have made it a more . . . exciting discovery for these aliens. That brought a new thought to Leo's mind: Splinter was the only mutant rat in the world, which made him, in a way, more special – so, these bright lights obviously didn't know about him . . . or didn't care.

   Not the first time in this week did Leo's brain feel like it was in overload. The turtle let out a silent sigh, and sat up. The ceiling had become pretty boring to watch after three hours, and now he was hungry.

   The first thing he looked at was the illuminated clock on the VCR as Leo stepped out of his room and into the lair. It was 2:20 in the afternoon, and no one was in the lair. He froze and listened; he could hear the sounds of weapons practice in the dojo, which answered why the TV was turned off for once. How could his brothers concentrate on practice after what they saw with him in the park? Frowning, Leo walked over to the kitchen area and grabbed a few cookies to eat. He ate them in the kitchen, leaning on the counter while staring into space. His mind didn't see to want to do anything but think. Finally, Leo felt he could no longer breath down there, and grabbed his trench coat. He didn't bother leaving a note where he was going because he wouldn't be too long. He just wanted to get a bit of fresh air, and check out the newspapers.

   It was very strange to slosh down the cool tunnels and experience a tingle of fear as he arrived at a junction. He always felt safe in these tunnels, they had provided the feeling of being protected from many things; but now, he felt like a normal person with an imagination as he looked at the walls. These tunnels did seem a bit . . . scary. They were long, dark, and at this T junction there were two directions anyone could attack. Leo let out the small breath he was holding, annoyed at himself for being such a fool. Who would be waiting around a corner in a sewer? He was a ninja, he would hear anyone around a corner meters off . . . and then his imagination started playing again: He wouldn't hear anything around a corner if it weren't human, if it had the technologies to beam down silently. He suddenly felt like a scared little kid all alone, and frightened. For no reason Leo looked behind him at the way he had come. It seemed very long, and very dark. It was his eyes playing tricks on him, but poor Leo believed he saw movement in the deepest shadows, and the turtle gasped and spun around, and began running down the right tunnel, towards the manhole he knew would be there.

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   Apologies for the lateness.