Disclaimer: Once again, the voices.

Chapter Three

Mike screamed in the darkness, the space between the celestial arc of the blade and his brother's neck coming quickly to an end. A single accusative thought bubbled into his mind, instantly setting him off.

'He lied to us!'

He lunged for the sword wielding vampire, his eyes red with rage, a boiling anger in his heart; but stopped in his tracks at the last second.

He could only watch on as time stood still.

In the same instant of his brother's yell, Donatello had looked up and into Owen's oncoming advance. At first, he was shocked, scared even.

But then…

As Owen closed the gap between them, Mike watched as Donny's gaze went from frightened…to…something else. A darkness passed over his face, very uncharacteristic of the usual calm collected turtle. Just as quickly the darkness turned cold, and then completely black right before…

Right before he disappeared.

In that same fragment of time, Owen's sword lashed out, its blade gleaming in the moonlight. However, Donatello's neck was not there to receive the fatal blow.

He was gone.

Mike blinked, hard; but one more look told him that indeed, Donatello was gone.

He had vanished into thin air.

At a loss on what else to do, he just stood there, his eyes still resting on the spot where Donatello had been. Owen, too, stopped in his tracks, but did not look as surprised as the turtle in orange.

Actually, Mike noticed a smile, a quite smug smile, forming on Owen's thin white lips. He watched the man, his eyes narrowing into venomous slits.

This man was no vampire.

He was a witch.

Michelangelo, in his blind rage, grabbed the smirking Owen, lifting him by his black coat collar with one heave. Although Owen was a good foot taller than the turtle, his feet still dangled in at least six inches of air.

Owen looked down and into the eyes of wrath.

The turtle growled long and low.

'For what he did to Donny, he will pay!' He shifted his grip on Owen's limp form, grabbing his neck in his thick fingers.

However, a flash beyond Owen's dangling body caught Mike's eye. He shifted his gaze, becoming sidetracked on his quest of impending doom. Owen seized the opportunity, wiggling out of the turtle's sturdy grasp. He gracefully fell to the ground, his eyes still on Michelangelo. He stood, black eyes met brown.

But not quite.

Michelangelo looked past the smirking Owen and into the darkness. Something was over there.

There was a flash of blue light; the air around it rippling unnaturally so. Mike's eyes widened as he watched the uncanny scene before him. Owen noticed the turtle's change in demeanor, and smiled. This was what he had been waiting for.

Meanwhile, Mike watched on as the air rippled twenty feet away. Faster and faster it seemed to go, whirling in shades of blue, black and purple. Mixing, twirling, they sped up until there was no definition between the colors at all. A mighty 'rip' separated time and space as a hole opened right in the middle of the air!

Donatello reappeared in that space of air, facing in the same direction he had been before; the hole closed and disappeared behind him. Michelangelo stared in disbelief at Donatello's shelled back.

Donatello, completely lost as to what had just occurred, turned uncertainly, his eyes widening at the realization of exactly how suddenly far he was from the "group." Owen smirked even wider. Although he never turned, he knew that the turtle would be just as shocked as his brother.

Passing through the Plane was something that took some getting use to.

Although Owen did not turn to face the newly appeared turtle, he still continued to smile, his teeth flashing in the moonlight.

The look on Michelangelo's face told him well enough.

Donatello had passed the test.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Test?!" Donatello looked up, his own voice betraying him.

It cracked in anger.

He sat on the grass where he had fallen after reappearing. Owen smiled down at him, his pointed canines gleaming menacingly in the little light the moon provided.

Don shuttered despite himself, he would never get use to those teeth. Absently, he ran his tongue over his own teeth. The points of his own cuspids poked his tongue slightly as it raked over them. He grimaced.

It only resulted in making him angrier.

He looked up at the standing Owen with abhorrence. Mike mirrored his look. He, too, was not pleased.

Owen looked between the standing and sitting turtles, noticing their angry stares.

He knew that he had a lot of explaining to do.

"You see, I had to test you…" He explained the situation, hoping that those few words were enough, but to his exasperation, it only earned blank looks.

Blank angry looks.

He sighed.

"To see if you were really a Vampire?" Owen tried to get his point across just one more time. However, it seemed as though that still was not enough.

Donny's eye narrowed. "By attacking me?!" He asked, his tones colored dark by his anger.

Owen sighed. They didn't get it.

He absently ran a hand through his hair as he looked down at the turtle on the dark ground. Correction, his student on the dark ground.

'That's right, your student! Maybe you should do what you're supposed to and act like a teacher for a change, hm?'

With a sigh, he realized the voice was right.

'Once again…'

"There are things that I had to know, that I had to observe. However those…things…would only occur if you were under pressure. Under attack." He paced as he talked, finding it hard to explain what he was thinking. All the while he kept a serous gaze on Donatello, but was aware of the gaze of the turtle in orange. Mike moved before him, sitting next to his brother in the dark grass. He looked up at the man questionably.

"Things like…what?" He couldn't help the curiosity that found itself in his voice although he felt that he had a clue as to what Owen was talking about. A few pieces of the puzzle fell into place.

'The disappearing act. He knew that it would happen…" On the outside, though, he made sure to keep his eyes and voice curious. He wanted to hear it from the man himself, not guess it on his own. What he didn't know was that Owen had already read his thoughts. He turned to the turtle in orange, addressing him directly.

"Yes, Michelangelo, I knew that Donatello would…disappear, as you so well put it." Owen rather enjoyed the look of shock that passed over the turtle's face. He smiled, his teeth gleaming once again in the poor light of the woods. Donny though, at a complete loss as to what was happening, only furrowed his brow, watching Owen expectantly. Owen turned, fixing the next turtle with his gaze. He knew what was coming; it just was a matter of when.

"So, what did happen back there?" Donny looked up at him, his own curiosity adding a gleam to his usually plain eyes. Owen smiled.

It was just a matter of when.

Leaning back, he found a tree to brace his weight on. The turtles watched him with interest as he reached into his pocket, pulling out a cigarette. Michelangelo frowned lightly in disgust.

'He smokes.' A dirty habit he knew well. Splinter had warned them strongly about taking part in such activities as smoking and drinking.

'Although, not all of us agree with those guidelines.' His thoughts absently went to his brother in red, before focusing on the task at hand. His attention went back to the vampire, of which was currently lighting up.

Owen threw a measured glace at the turtle in orange.

He had heard that.

Annoyed, he lit the cigarette, pulling in a drag before exhaling the toxins into the cool night air. He turned to the turtles, absently placing the engraved silver lighter back into his pocket.

Just another remnant of his past life.

The night was silent around them, although he warily watched the air. If it was possible, he wanted to avoid a confrontation with the local public at all costs.

'Well then why did I choose this place of all places? Anyone could just waltz in from behind the trees at any given second!' He gave the night one more glance, and one more look over with his senses. The voice chirped up.

'You picked it because you knew that this would be the perfect place!' Well, that was true. There was a lot more room out there, a lot more space, than his apartment per say. He knew that it would come in handy later on. Also, with it being so late, there was a smaller chance of their little "group" being discovered or walked in on. Seeing and sensing nothing out of the ordinary, he finally turned to the zealous turtles on the ground.

"It's rather hard to explain. We have…certain attributes that make us what we are." He remarked, referring to Michelangelo's former question. Mike tilted is head. Donny's own interests stirred with the statement also.

"Like sucking blood?" Mike added his two cent before counting his money. He closed him mouth immediately; that wasn't meant to be said out loud. However, it was, and it annoyed Owen all the more.

They still didn't get it!

"There are more to vampirism than just sucking blood!" He stated matter-of-fatly, everyone knew that. However, at the turtle's looks he concluded that they didn't.

"Well there is! A lot more, actually." He added justly before taking another puff of the cigarette. He idly watched the disappearing smoke before turning back. Both turtles sat on the ground, two pairs of eyes completely glued on him. He sighed. They were clueless, he could tell. It was funny; these turtles were just as clueless about his life as he was about theirs. Well, he had better get this over with.

"It's hard to explain with out giving you the…" He searched the sky for the right words. "Entire story?" Yes, that sounded good. He could tell that the turtle's interested peaked at the mention.

Mikey raised an eye ridge.

'A story huh? Well this had better be good.' He leaned back, his weight shifting to his hands behind him. Likewise, Donatello leaned forward, resting his chin on his fists, elbows to his knees. Owen watched, bemused.

'They like stories…' He took note of the observations, amused as the he watched the turtles get "comfortable," as if settling in for a long story.

They were correct in their assumptions.

He took one more puff of the cigarette before rubbing it out on a near by tree trunk.

There would be no distractions during this story. Not from him or his beloved cigarettes.

Dejectedly, he placed the butt into his pocket before looking into the sky. The stars seemed to add to the sereneness of the night before him.

He would have to clarify. He would have to explain the ways of the vampire to these beings, but he didn't have the slightest idea of where to start, how to begin. It was not as if he had experience, he never had to do anything like this before. Never.

Once again, that handy dandy voice piped up, seemingly clearing and organizing his thoughts.

'Start at the beginning.' It instructed him, and in like manner, he began to speak.

"Vampires, in the beginning, were not actual vampires per say. We have origins, just like the different groups of human and I assume, just like your kind." He motioned towards the turtles as he continued. "There are myths and legends as to how we came about. Overall, no one is exactly sure about our beginnings. However, there is this one tale, this one story that is widely believed to be the truth." He looked from the stars and into the eyes of his audience.

Don spoke up, a brow furrowed, a head tilted to the side. "But I thought vampires were made from people that got bitte-"

"That's not what I meant!" Owen chided, interrupting the turtle, mid-sentence. Donny fell silent. Owen sighed once before stating again.

"I mean, at the beginning, the beginning of time. The beginning of our existence. The first vampires were not actual vampires." He explained, pacing once again.

It was Mike's turn to speak up.

"Well then, what were they?" Mike was confused, Owen could sense it, but choose to ignore it. That one would understand soon enough. Leaning back he brought his gaze upwards, grazing the skies once again. The celestial beings twinkled back down at him, their gaze meeting his own. Slowly, he brought his head back down to earth, a breath escaping him on its decent. His distant black eyes rested on the turtles before him.

He blinked, a clinical smile gracing his lips once again, teeth gleaming lightly in the moonlight.

"In the beginning, they weren't vampires…In the beginning, instead…" He paused, the smile widening.

"They were gods."

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Lol. Ooooo, now we're getting somewhere. Pretty cool if I do say so myself. Hehe, I had mundo fun! Well, on to the next chapter!!! *marches off* R and R