Figures. The moment reviewers don't ask for a quick update, I've got one. Oh well.
Howdy, people! What's up? (dorky humor emerges as usual) The ceiling! (cringes) When will I stop with the corny jokes?
(taps fingers) Well, I don't got any more comments. Itn't that a surprise?
You know the drill!
Wow. This chapter got the most reviews than ever before! That's a new record! Of course, Suicide got seventeen for its second chapter! But I shouldn't compare them. That's favoritism, and I love both of my babies.
Disclaimer: Guys, I don't even own a DVD player. Can you honestly think I own a supremely-ultra-mega-awesome cartoon show? In Laymen's Terms: I don't own the TMNT!
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Silhouette collapsed to the floor, arms sore. It had taken every fiber of her being to get Leo back into his room.
It was too weird. She, always a light sleeper, had woken up to the sound of Raph and Leo fighting again. The little girl had sat by the doorway, eavesdropping on the conversation. She knew that was rude, but she'd been getting curious as to what was going on with the blue-clad turtle.
But, then, Sil heard Leo say a few things that were obviously shocking for his character. Seconds later, the feud was over. She had heard Raph come up to his room and waited for Leo.
Five minutes passed, and he never came.
Finally, she heard him coming. Feeling a little daring, she had peeked out, only to see him gripping the stair rail so hard that his knuckles had turned white. Leo was also walking very slowly, as if searching for each handhold. It was like he was blind.
But that wasn't the thing that caught her attention. For a minute, at one point, he almost looked transparent. Sil could've sworn that she had seen right through him.
That was when she had come out of her hiding spot. She had gone up to Leo, who was on the verge of keeling over, and placed a hand on his shoulder.
"Leo?" she had whispered. "Leo, are you okay?"
He never answered her.
"C'mon, Leo. It'll be all right. What's going on?"
Nothing. Eventually, though, she did get a response. Even if it wasn't good. In an instant, the turtle's body temperature had dropped.
Quickly, Silhouette had tucked her shoulder under his arm, extremely grateful that he hadn't collapsed yet. She wouldn't have been able to budge him an inch if he had.
The orphan had let out a breath under his weight. "Okay, Leo. I'm gonna need you to move."
He gasped for breath. Silhouette put her other hand against his neck, taking his pulse. She was almost positive that it had slowed; though she couldn't be sure.
"Please, Leo. I need your help." She had begged quietly.
She didn't think he had ever heard her, but, somehow, he seemed to have forced himself to move. It didn't last long. Just before they'd gotten to the room, Leo had lost consciousness. Sil had to drag him in there.
The turtle mumbled something in his sleep, drawing Sil's attention back to him. She crawled back to where his body lay still. If it was possible, she thought he'd gotten colder.
Sil sat on her knees by Leo, moving her hair back nervously. What am I going to do? She looked him over hurriedly. Let's see… of course! Check his breathing and pulse!
The youth lay her head only centimeters from his chest. His breathing was fairly normal, but it was a little on the slow side. She raised her head and put two fingers to his neck, checking his pulse again. That came slow, very slow. Silhouette had never been to medical school, but she was fairly certain that one beat every five seconds wasn't good.
Her hair got in her face again. God, that was annoying! She ignored it as she went to his bed and grabbed all the blankets she could find.
When she came back, she noticed water pooling around Leo's knees, feet, and sides, as if he was sitting in his own private pool that was blocked off from gravity's command.
She had to get his bothers. This was too weird. She couldn't handle it. Sil got up, running to the door. But before she could get out, Leo woke up.
Immediately, the water around him splashed to the ground. It smelt like blood, blood mixed with rainwater.
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They never stopped screaming. Even when he woke up, they're cries echoed for a little while.
Leo moaned as the bottomless pit of darkness from his nightmares transformed into the familiar surroundings of his room.
He was cold. Why was he always so cold? As he sat up, with much strained effort, a drop of water made a splashing sound, its collision with a small pool of water beneath him.
Leo blinked. When he had woken up the first time last night, after Don had found him, he'd been wet also. The ninja was beginning to think this was not a coincidence.
He stuck a finger in the water and brought it to his nose. It smelt a lot like the water in his dreams…
A thought came rushing back to him like a boomerang. His room. How'd he gotten to his room? Unless he was sleepwalking, that was impossible.
Silhouette stared at him from the doorway. "Are you okay?"
Leo just nodded. She had to have seen something.
The girl walked to him and sat cross-legged in front of him. "Are you sure?" She put her hand against his skin, then talked to herself, "You were so cold…"
"I'm fine, Sil."
The fire of character that she so often wore ignited in her eyes once more. "That's a lie, and I think you know it. I heard your brothers talking about you. They know something's wrong with you and so do I. Why don't you just tell them?"
Leo sighed. "My brothers don't know me as well as they may think, Sil. Heck, I don't even know me as much as I should." He cocked his head. "How are you supposed to know?"
"By what I saw just now. That was too weird-"
"Wait a minute." The wheels turned in the turtle's head. What if these dreams were having effects on his body? He knew that something must be going on in his head, otherwise Stockman wouldn't be so interested in him. But what about his body? Maybe there was some clue… Leo looked closely at Silhouette, who was watching him carefully. "What did you see?"
Sil looked down, shrugging her shoulders. "I saw…" She stopped, then looked up at him with a mischievous grin on her face.
Uh oh. Leo hadn't known this girl for long, but he'd come to the conclusion that when she wore a look like that, she was planning something.
Sure enough, Sil opened her mouth to reveal her brilliant idea. "How about this? I'll tell you what I know if you tell me what's going on."
Leo shook his head. "There isn't anything going on to talk about."
"Okay, then. I guess that means that the really weird stuff that happened while you were out isn't that important." She stood up and walked to his bed. "Night."
Leo sighed. When he turned to look at the young girl, she was watching him with a smirk of victory. He gestured back to where she had sat. "Sit down."
She smiled and moved back. "Ready when you are."
"All right," the blue-clad turtle gave a nervous look, "three weeks ago, I started having these nightmares…"
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Leo finished. He's told Silhouette everything he'd known about his dreams, feeling oddly guilty about doing so. After she told him about his transparency, drop of body temperature, and other things, they sat in silence.
"So," Sil started, hugging herself, since it'd become colder, "what're ya gonna do about it?"
"I don't know."
"You don't have a plan? You could talk to Stockman-"
"No, I can't. He has the upper hand now. I have to wait for him to make his move."
"But if you do that, you may never find out why they scream."
"Don't you think I know that?" Leo snapped. His expression softened. "Sorry. I'm just… I don't know."
Sil inched closer. "That's okay." She put on a thoughtful expression. "Have you tried looking for clues in your dreams?"
"I can't look for anything in my dreams."
"Have you even tried? Have you gone on a search or anything?"
"No. I'm… I'm almost afraid to."
The little girl gave him a sympathetic look. "Why?"
Leo sighed. "There's several reasons. What if I see what's happening to them, and I still can't help them? What if I can't find them? For all I know, the second I get up and walk around, I fall off the face of the earth. I know that's a stretch, but I heard that you can die in your dreams."
"Well," she grabbed his hand; "you can't fall if someone's holding on to you."
He smiled at her thoughts. Sometimes, he could swear little kids had the purest ideas. "I don't think it-" He broke off, gasping as the screams came back. They were faster.
He felt Silhouette's grip tighten on his hand. "Leo? What's going on?"
"…screams…" Was all he could mutter before fading back into the world of the children who cried forever in a dark hell-hole.
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Leo opened his eyes to blackness. The water had risen higher since his last dream. Standing, it was up to his knees. The turtle looked around, and as always, didn't see anything.
He was about to sit down in the water when he heard the sound of Silhouette shrieking to his physical body.
"Leo? Leo! What's going on? Oh, please, Leo! Please wake up!"
For the first time in these nightmares, he'd heard a voice that wasn't screaming. "Sil?" He prayed for her to answer.
"Leo! You can hear me! What's happening? Oh, God, Leo, I'm scared-"
"Why? What's going on?"
Her voice paused. There was a grunt. "I-I can't move my hand. I can't get it off of you. And," another pause, "I can't move you either. You're like an ice cube, too. Oh man, it's worse than last time."
An idea came to the ninja. "Can you see what I'm seeing?"
"No. Why?"
"Nothing. I was just wondering." A high-pitched scream blasted through his thoughts. Leo covered his ears.
Outside, he heard a startled cry from Silhouette. After she recovered, she called out, "Um, Leo? Do you think you can let go of me?"
He tried. He really did. But, somehow, he'd lost control of his body. "I'm sorry, Sil."
She sighed. "That's okay." He could almost see the brightness come into her face. "Hey! Now you can look for clues!"
Leo groaned. "I told you-"
"Aw, c'mon! What would you rather do: Listen to screams or find out the answer to your questions?"
"Who said there are any answers here?" He shook his head, knowing he'd already lost the battle. Besides, he knew there could be something to find. "Okay. I'll look." He stood up and walked.
The farther he got, the colder he became. The temperature seemed to drop several degrees for every inch. Leonardo had only been gone from his usual position foe ten seconds when he came to a wall.
"Sil?" he asked, before his teeth started to chatter. "I c-c-came to a wall."
"Well… try and follow it. Leo? Are you feeling any colder?"
"Yeah. Wh-why?"
"You're skin's starting to turn blue! Well, I think it's blue. It's kinda hard to tell when you have green skin. Go around for a little bit. I'll tell you to go back to where you were if you get worse."
"Okay."
Leo put his hand out, feeling along the wall to find his way around the chamber. It didn't take long for him to realize he was making a circle.
"Sil?"
"Yeah?"
"I'm-" He was cut off by higher screams.
"Leo?"
"I'm g-going in cir-r-circles." He let out a sigh. It was getting harder to breathe.
Leo let his shell slide down and against the wall, submersing half of himself in the water. It was so cold; he was so tired.
"Hey, Leo? Leo, are you still there? C'mon, don't give up now! You can-"
"Shhh…" he hushed her. There was something going on. The second he thought of it, all the information came rushing to him. A small handful of the children had stopped their screaming. Well, almost. Occasionally, a painful shriek would set itself loose, but most of the time they were gasping. Like when you've cried for a long time and can't breathe.
Fourteen of these children were doing this. In the midst of their panted breaths, Leo could make out a few words.
"Someone…gotta help him…" That was a girl. She was eleven. Leo blinked. How'd he known that?
A six-year-old boy. "…can't get…too far…"
Another boy, same age as the last one, spoke, "How…can we help…can't help ourselves?"
A girl aged thirteen. "…give him a clue…"
"We'll get caught!" That was a group of children.
The teenager spoke again. "Not if…up…"
A younger little girl joined their conversation. "…it hurts…"
An older boy, probably fourteen, scoffed, "…sure one of us…make it."
A few of them screamed. When they were done, there were less than before. Another teenage girl had an idea. "…can send… He'll help…different…"
"Yeah," the older boy chimed in, "…blue-turtle is smart…figure it out…"
For a moment, the voices were quiet and the other screamers came at full blast. Leo couldn't even cover his ears, he felt so weak. A part of him was saying go to sleep, but his rational self, along with Silhouette, was saying to get up. He wanted to, he really did, but mortal needs were getting the best of him this time. He began to close his eyes.
Then, a gurgling noise broke in through the noise. Leo lifted his head, even though he knew he wouldn't see anything. With newfound strength, he raised his body upright, anticipating the new presence.
Someone was here with him.
Those same gasping sounds he'd heard earlier were there again, but they were louder and made by only one person. Leo looked up, suddenly feeling he knew who this person was.
Like the information thrown at him before, the blue-clad turtle was soon able to 'see' that this was a boy, age eight. And his name was Tom.
Leo held his head in his hands. He all of sudden had a major headache.
The gasping sounds came closer, until Leo knew that Tom was clinging to the same wall he was sitting against. The boy let out a small, but muffled, cry before trying to breathe normal again
Then, he asked a question. "Are you the blue-turtle? Can you hear me?"
"Yeah…"
Silhouette's voice interrupted, "Leo, you gotta try to come out. I don't know how much longer-"
"Sil!" he called out to her. "You have t-to be quiet-t. This is impor-r-tant." Somehow, he knew this was.
Tom tried to speak. At first, it came out as a screech of anguish, but the child squashed it and tried again. "You can get him. We know you can. You can't give up now."
"I d-don't know anything. I can't help-p you, not right now."
The boy screamed in pain and fell down, grasping Leo's arm. "I can help. He made a mistake with me."
The space around him started to get warmer. It felt good to be able to make sentences without stuttering. "Mistake?"
"Uh-huh. He thought I was like them, 'cause of my clothes and bruises. He got me by his warehouse."
"Who? Stockman?"
"Yeah-" Tom's sentence was broke off by his screams. Then Leo heard that gurgle sound again, and he was gone.
And then Leo's world joined the physical plane of being.
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Silhouette bit her lip anxiously. Leo was starting to get warmer, but she was still worried. A voice in her head told her that she should be helping, but that was pretty hard to do when her hand was glued to the turtle before her.
Why couldn't she let go? Sil tried again and was surprised to see that it worked this time. Then, Leo stirred. He opened his eyes.
Sil glared at him. ""Thanks for giving me my hand back." Her gaze turned more sympathetic. "I'm glad you're awake."
Leo just nodded, trying to breathe.
"So," she questioned, "did you find out anything?"
The ninja gulped. "Yeah. There was this boy… he said something about Stockman making a mistake with him; how he's not like the others."
"What do you think makes him different?"
Leo stared off into space. "Not sure."
Sil tilted her head, than looked down. There was a puddle beneath Leo again.
He noticed. "What do you think this has to do with it all?" Leo brought up a wet finger.
She shrugged. "I don't know. Maybe it has something to do with that place you're at. You said it's filled with water, right?"
Wiping his hand, Leo nodded. Then he cocked his head. "What time is it?"
Silhouette growled under her breath. "You just had a major break through in solving these nightmares, and you want to know what time it is?"
"Yeah. I wanna see how much time I have left before morning." He yawned. "The nightmares never come in the morning."
As she checked his alarm clock, Sil thought over what her new friend had just said. She turned back to him. "It's three. You never have them in the morning? Just what times do you have them?"
She watched as Leo put on a thoughtful expression. Then, he finally answered her. "Never before ten at night, never after five in the morning."
"So why don't you just sleep in the morning? If I'm hearing anything from your brothers, it's that you're really irritable lately."
Leo sighed. "It doesn't work like that, Sil. These dreams literally pull me in. I've tried to fight them before, but it's not working." He looked down. "I'm not strong enough."
Sil looked at him sadly. She didn't believe what he just said. Leo was a lot stronger than he knew. It was obvious that he and his brothers were tough physically, but spiritually, Leo was as solid as a rock. And it took a lot to break a rock like that. She figured that any other person in his position would've already crumbled by now.
The orphan was about to say it, but Leo stood up. "C'mon, Sil. It's late. There's not much else we can do tonight and you need to rest."
"Not as much as you."
The blue-banded turtle gritted his teeth.
Sil broke in before he could say anything. "At least try, would ya? I know you'll probably have more nightmares tonight, but try to sleep in. Maybe you can sleep in later; maybe the nightmares only happen at the dead of night."
He put a hand to his forehead, than brought it down and gave her a small smile. "All right, I'll try. But, even if it works, I won't be able to do it all the time. My brothers and I get up early to train."
"Why don't you just tell them? They're really worried about you, Leo."
"I can't tell them. I felt bad enough telling you."
Sil crossed her arms and sat on the bed. "But don't you feel better now?"
Leo rubbed his neck. "I guess. But, we can't tell my brothers or Master Splinter."
The girl opened her mouth, but Leo beat her to it.
"Or Casey and April." He clarified. "For some reason, I feel like this was supposed to be a secret…"
"Well," Sil shrugged, "all secrets are told eventually! But whatever you say." Leo handed her the covers from the ground. She took one, giving him the other two, and pulled it up to her chin. "Now go to sleep!"
Leo laughed as he lowered himself to the floor. "Taking orders from a twelve-year-old. Now that's sad."
She stuck out her tongue.
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Sil yawned as she woke up a little after eight the next morning. She turned her head to look at Leo.
He'd had two more nightmares that night, though neither were as bad as their predecessors. She hoped the blanket had helped keep him warm.
The orphan girl grinned to herself. Her idea was a success. Not to far away from her, Leonardo laid in a peaceful sleep. He had finally gotten a good rest out of the past few weeks. If only it would last.
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Okay! Chapter 6 is done! Stick a fork in it! I hope I wasn't too confusing with my dialogue. According to some of my teachers, I need to work on that.
By the way, in case any of you were wondering, Tom isn't a very important character. I just need him to solve this puzzle I've set up. The only important and named new character is Silhouette.
(cries) Guys, I know you'll be asking for more, but I'm going to have to actually think before I type up the next chapter! I only have one idea for it, and that ain't enough!
But in happier cases (theatre voice) Look out for the third chapter of Suicide. Coming soon to a website near you!
Today's the beginning of Spring Break for me, so I can't guarantee that Suicide or any other new chapters by me will be up during the next week. It all depends on whether or not my Dad lets me on his computer or not. And then, I have lots of catching up to do on holding the baby! Haven't seen her for a few days! But I'll try, I promise!
Well, guys, have fun with whatever you may be doing this weekend. Enjoy quality, family time, watch good entertainment, eat a great meal, (coughs) update your stories…
See ya!