I do not own the TMNT.
I'm back! Sorry, I've had the flu and couldn't update, but let me know what you think.
Peace out!
Lost
Chapter 13
"April, would you go check on Michelangelo for me?" Sensei asked interrupting my thoughts, "I want to speak with him as soon as he is able."
"Of course," April said as she stood and headed towards Mikey's room.
"I believe that all three of you have some apologies to make to your brother," Sensei said.
"Yes sir," we said in unison before jumping in surprise when April ran out of Mikey's room with a look of panic on her face.
"Guys! Mikey's gone!"
Chaos erupted at April's words as we all started firing off questions at her at the same time.
"What do you mean he's gone?!"
"Where is he? I'll kill the kid with my barehands!"
"Did you check the bathroom?"
"SILENCE!" Sensei yelled stopping us all in our tracks and then turning towards April, "What have you found child?"
"I went to check on Mikey and found his bedroom empty," April said clearly distressed, "Then I checked the bathroom and found that too was empty. When I went back to Mikey's room, I found some of his things missing and this note."
Raphael rudely snatched the note out of April's hand and began to read it.
"This is indecipherable! It looks like he got it wet," Raph said and threw the note to Donnie, "You've always been able ta read Mikey's chicken scratch so have a go at it."
"You are so rude Raph! Mikey's handwriting is not 'chicken scratch' and these are tear marks on the letter which means he was crying when he wrote it!" Donnie snapped and then proceeded to read the note aloud to the rest of us.
Dear family and friends (That's you April.),
Your lives will be endangered if I stay so I think that it is time for me to leave. I just couldn't live with myself if I knew that you were hurt because of me. I would do anything to protect all of you. I love you all dearly!
I am so sorry for hurting your feelings. I swear I never meant to! It just felt so good to be accepted by everybody else for just a little while. Please know that I will uphold the clan's honor for the rest of my life and I will miss you everyday. Please don't hate me and don't try to find me because I know you will all be happier without me.
Love with all my heart,
Michelangelo
Silence filled the room once again. I couldn't believe Mikey had run away. How could he have left like this? Looking at Raph, I quickly figured out the answer to my question.
"This is all your fault!" I said angrily, "If you had kept your big mouth shut then Mikey would have never run away."
"I know that I had a hand in this," Raph said and then pointed first at Donnie and then myself, "But I wasn't the only one who had somethin' ta say ta Mikey tonight!"
"You were the only one who told Mikey to 'get lost' and now he's gone!" Donnie yelled, "You had no right to say the things you did!"
"SILENCE!" Sensei yelled stopping us all in our tracks again, "My youngest is out there somewhere alone and scared. You will go out there and find him and bring him home. Mohaya!"
"Mohaya?" April asked.
"It's Japanese for 'now,'" I said feeling the guilt begin to gnaw into me once again, "Let's go guys!"
We searched for the rest of the night and found no signs of Mikey anywhere. When we got back to April's apartment at daybreak, we discovered that April had called the police to report her missing "nephew." They had found no leads thus far. Not even Sensei could discern Mikey's whereabouts with his meditation sessions. Splinter was heartbroken and the rest of us were not doing much better. I felt like something was sitting on my chest all the time. I had vowed to avenge Mikey and defend my family's honor and now my family was fractured. This was all my fault.
Raph was blaming himself solely for Mikey's disappearance. I think it was eating him up inside that the last words he had said to our little brother were spoken in anger. Donnie wasn't helping matters any since he had expressed many times that he also solely blamed Raph. Our family was falling apart.
We searched every night until a week has gone by and still we found nothing. April discovered something on the ninth day of Mikey's disappearance that gave us all a glimmer of hope.
"Guys! Mikey took my emergency credit card. I would have never known if I hadn't just cleaned out my purse," April said, "I have had the charges tracked."
"That's wonderful April!" Donnie said hurrying to log onto April's computer.
"What does this mean?" I asked.
"That means that we can track down Mikey's whereabouts from where he has been using April's credit card," Donnie said with excitement in his voice.
I felt a flutter of hope echo through me that was reflected in all of our faces.
"I can't believe that Mikey swiped your card April," Raph said, "He knows bettah than that."
"He left me a note," April said, "He apologized and said that he would pay me back when he gets a job.
"Your brother was scared and confused Raphael. He did not consider his actions," Splinter said looking much better than he had looked in days, "What have your found Donatello?"
"You are not going to believe this!" Donnie said with dismay in his voice.
To our astonishment, Mikey had somehow gotten a hold of a passport and had hopped a plane to Japan. Our baby brother was all alone in a foreign country. And to make matters worse, Donatello had discovered something very disturbing. A Mr. Katsuro had left for Japan on the next flight out of New York after Mikey's flight. Mikey had been followed.
To be continued.