She hung limply by her nailed wrists. The pain in her body by far, overshadowed the pain in her wrists. It didn't matter which way she tried to twist her body, it only made the pain worse anyways. She wanted to go home. She wanted to look up and see her father and uncles come tearing into the room, ready to fight the minions of hell itself to get her home. She knew that this wasn't going to happen. She didn't want to die, she was afraid of it.
Something was jabbed into the small of her back and she jerked and twisted. Futilely trying to escape the burning brand that he was torturing her with. Was there no end to the pain!
At the Turtle's Lair...
Raph sat in a daze. For once he was numbed with silence. Elizabeth wasn't dead! Leo and Don were running through various scenarios. Where then was she? How could they find her? What were their odds of even being able to find her? And on it went...
"I found something," April announced. Her eyes glowed slightly in the faint light from her laptop computer. She and Casey had come down to the Lair, as soon as Leo contacted them and had asked for their help. Don leaned over her shoulder, and traced one finger along a map that she had up on the screen before her.
"This could be it," he said quietly.
"It might not be," April corrected softly. "It's only a possibility."
"This has to be it. Take a look," Don insisted, and explained why this must be the place that Elisabeth is at.
"I think you're right," April said.
Leo nodded his head, "Ok...then this is what we're going to do," and came up with a workable plan. Because he knew the place was likely to be very heavily guarded. More than likely by the Elite themselves.
Raph spoke for the first time in hours, "Yeah, but ya' forgot one thing..." Leo looked at him with compassion in his eyes, and motioned for him to continue speaking.
"Do ya' think he just brought her down there ta' have a little chat with her? Ta' tell her how much he missed her?" Raph's eyes filled with grief as he continued speaking, "When we get there she'll probably be dead! That's if this is where he's keeping her!"
"Believe me bro' I know how you feel," Leo said sympathetically.
"Don't pretend ya' know how I feel Leo. Ya' have no idea." Raph replied, his voice evoid of any other feeling.
"You're right...I don't," confessed Leo quietly. "But that doesn't mean that I don't love her. Or that I won't do anything and everything I can, to bring her home where she belongs. Raph, we need to work on this together, and we need to do it now."
Don stood beside his red masked brother, "Leo is right about this, Raph. We need to work together. We go in and find Elisabeth and get her out."
Raph turned fear filled eyes toward his brothers, "What if...what if it's too late?"
"Then we'll deal with that as a family, once we know that it's a certainty," Leo stated, as he laid a comforting hand on Raph's shoulder.
Meanwhile at the warehouse...
She screamed around her gag. The terrible, pitiful screams of someone in so much never ending pain. Elisabeth still hung by her nailed wrists. They yanked painfully as the two huge Elite took turns raping her. Each of them slamming into her in a rhythm all their own. Long fingernails scraped new gouges into her already ruined body. Along with slashes that had been cut into her with a razor sharp katana. Eventually the two Elite finished raping and cutting her, and stood back from her grinning evilly. Not that she could see their evil grins, for her blindfold had been put back into place. She felt something fall over her head and tighten around her throat. It became harder and harder for her to breath, then she couldn't breath at all. She struggled against this new torture. But not being able to loosen the noose around her throat, she was slowly being strangled. She weakened and just simply stopped struggling. Elisabeth looked death in the face and even welcomed it. Finally, something that would put an end to her torture forever! But
just as she was about to pass out from the lack of oxygen, the noose was loosened. And against her own free will, her lungs gratefully sucked in the free air. After a few minutes the noose was tightened again. And she knew that her tormentor will make this go on until he tired of this torture. Then he would do something else to her just as equally bad...if not worse. She sobbed and cursed herself for her inability to just allow
herself to die!
Outside the warehouse...
"Casey says he and Don are ready," Mikey reported to Leo. The three of them...Leo, Mikey, and Raph, crouched and waited silently in the shadows near the warehouse.
"Then let's get this thing done," Leo whispered back to Mikey.
Leo stood up and led the way through the shadows...Raph and Mikey not far behind him. Leo knew that from their position, Don and Casey were doing the same. He also knew that they would have to fight their way in, and possibly out as well. Each of them would earn their share of injuries in the process. That's what you did for family. What Leo had said to Raph earlier was true. He could not back down and conveniently forget Elisabeth. Leo looked at his tempermental brother. Concern for his daughter was etched on Raph's face. And Leo will do anything that needed to be done, to get Elisabeth safely back into her father's arms. And he knew that deep down, Raph appreciated what his family was doing for him, even if he didn't say it.
Inside the warehouse...
A tiny moan escaped her...that was all. The Shredder realised that he was very close to breaking her. She had certainly held out for a long enough time, and through enough pain, that even he was marginally impressed. He might even honor her by giving her a quick death. But that wouldn't be for a while yet. The claw on the back of his hand sliced slowly through the muscles and flesh of her stomach. From the bottom of her ribs on the left side to the top of her right hip, he dragged his claw. Blood instantly welled to the surface and ran down her thighs. She no longer struggled, she hung limply. That was when the alarm went off. They were here...he knew it. With a growl of displeasure Shredder glared at one of his men, as if he were responsible for this intrusion. He gave her one last glance. The wooden poles, with their individual tools attached to them, was then jammed roughly into both her anus and vagina.
"I have business elsewhere. But don't worry, I shall be back soon to continue," he said. He doubted if she heard him or even if she cared. He'd beaten the turtles before. And Shredder had years to contemplate on what he had done wrong the last time, that allowed the turtles to escape from his clutches. He was more than prepared to meet them this time.
"Do whatever you want to her. Just make sure that she doesn't die," he ordered his men before he left. As he left the room, he knew that they understood what would happen to them if she did die. He smiled to himself. That would not mean that they wouldn't enjoy themselves. Besides, it would be good for her.
One of the men pulled a penknife from his pocket. It was a good penknife Too, the blades was extremely sharp. He looked up at the Shredder's captive and smiled cruelly. He stepped up close to her until she could feel his breath on her.
"I doubt you're going to enjoy this as much as I am. But hey, it's not like you can do anything about it anyways," he said. Good thing she was stretched out like this. He wouldn't want her to move and for him to cut something important. Steve Jans took pride in his work. He was one of those people that tortured innocent animals when he was a kid. As he grew older he moved on to torturing people. That was what he enjoyed doing the most. He liked to be able to work his knives over people who were still alive, and able to feel it. An opportunity like this didn't come up that often. But when it did Steve grabbed it. He knew that he wouldn't get the preliminaries of scaring his victim. Or running by with a little mental torture, so he just dived right in. He pulled out one of the medium sized blades on his knife, and pressed it against her right shoulder. And kept on pressing until it finally broke the skin. Then he dug it in some more and started to slice the knife downward, until it was little above her right breast. She didn't have a bad body either for a fifteen year old. But he never allowed himself to get distracted in the middle of a job. He withdrew the knife. And about three inches in from the original cut, he stabbed the knife in and repeated the process. When he was done he put the knife down on a nearby table. Taking either side of the soft skin, he started peeling it downwards. When he was done, he moved behind her with the knife and started a long cut down her spine...starting at her neck and ending just above her butt. Once again he laid his knife down and started peeling back the skin, revealing the white bones of her spine. All this time she didn't make a sound. Maybe she had finally lost her mind. Finished, he stepped
back to admire his work. Not bad, especially considering he was a little pressed for time.
"Let's go and get something to eat. I'm starved after doing all of this," he said to his comrade. The two men left together, laughing and chatting about what else they would do to her, when they returned. They got as far as the small kitchenette and froze. Waiting inside was two angry humanoid turtles...one of them wore a blue mask, the other wore a red one. The fact that the corriders on the way here had been quiet, had not struck the two humans as being odd. The fight was short. The two humans were more into torturing people, than to be fighting real ninja.
Donatello and Michalangelo...
The two had split up from their brothers and Casey a while ago, knowing that they'd get done faster, if they worked the warehouse separately. Now they stood in a long corridor with doors on both sides.
"You take the left side, I'll take the right," Don said. Mikey nodded wordlessly and started opening doors, checking for hidden Foot soldiers within the rooms. He was thorough in his search, not wanting any of them to jump at him later on. So far there have been none. He opened the door to a fourth room and froze, shocked into silence and inaction, for he had found Elizabeth. He hurried toward her and moved his hands to untie
the ropes from her wrists. As he got closer Mikey realized with horror that she wasn't tied. But that she was nailed to the crossbeam that she hung from! Instead, he removed the gag from her mouth and the blindfold from her head. He was trying to find a way of getting her down when she spoke.
"Uncle Mikey...?" Her voice was barely above a whisper, and he yelped and jumped back as he looked up at her. Her eyes looked back down at him and slowly blinked once, twice.
"Is it you?"
"Yeah, yeah, it's me. I'm going to have to go and get Don, and we'll get you down from there...ok?" Mikey said nervously.
"No, don't…" she coughed but didn't go on. Instead, her eyes slowly closed. Mikey watched her for a moment. A part of him thought that she had died already, and he hurriedly turned to go find Don.
"Come back!" her voice stopped him. "No leave me!"
"I'm just going to get Don," Mikey reassured her. "I need his help and I'll be right back."
"Please stay...they come back?" she asked in fear. Mikey looked at her and he just couldn't say no.
"Donatello!" he yelled. She winced, and he immediately regretted hollering and came back to her.
"I'm sorry for hollering and I won't be going anywhere. I'm staying right here...ok?" he said reassuringly, as he looked up at her.
"Mikey, what...!" Don skidded to a halt as he came inside the door. He stared up at Elisabeth. A pool of blood that he knew was hers had gathered underneath her. Bruises, cuts, and burns competed for places all over her ruined body. A long strip of flesh hung grotesquely from her shoulder. And what were those things stuck in her?
"Don, we have to get her down!" Mikey insisted. Don nodded dumbly as he came toward them. He managed to tear his eyes away from her to focus on something else. Anything other than looking at what they had done to her. He had brought a bag full of bandaging, ointments, and other equipment he thought he might need. But he wasn't sure that he'd brought enough. He carefully and gently removed the poles first. He then took what looked like pliers out of his bag.
"Hold her up Mikey," he instructed his brother. Then Don finally looked Elizabeth in the eyes. And what he saw there wanted him to back down and stop...but he couldn't.
"I'm sorry, Lizzie," Don mumbled. Then he climbed up on the table and closed the pliers around the nail in one wrist, and yanked it out in one swift movement. Her arm fell down and hit Mikey on the head, but he didn't seem to notice. Don moved to her other side and repeated the process. This time her whole upper body fell forward, and she would have hit Mikey's carapace, if he had not stumbled and lost his hold on her. She then fell on the floor. A howl of agony escaped her lips, and then she started thrashing around like a fish out of water. Don dropped next to her, and quickly moved her over on her side. He visibly flinched, as he saw the skin that had been peeled back from her spine. He immediately tossed his shell cell to Mikey.
"Tell Raph to get here now!" he ordered. Mikey fumbled with the cell until he finally managed to get Leo. Quickly he explained what happened, and Leo said that they'd be right there. Mikey then put the cell away and crouched next to Don. Guilt over having dropped her in the first place, made him stay silent.
Don pointed at his bag, "Mikey! Give me the bottle marked iodine." Obviously this wasn't the first time he had asked. Finally hearing him, Mikey rifled through the bag looking for the bottle and handed it to Don, along with a packet of cotton pads.
Don doused some iodine in the pads, and gently started wiping her back with it. Elisabeth acted as if he had pressed a red hot poker against her. She screeched and jerked away from him. She then tried to crawl away from Don, but collapsed face first on the floor, causing the ripped belly and torn flesh of her shoulder to drag along the floor. She lay
there gasping for breath, and trying not to cry out in pain.
Raph ran into the room, Leo a step behind him, "What the hell is going on! He stopped so suddenly that Leo almost ran right into him. Raph's jaw dropped when he saw his daughter. His face turned into a dark scowl, and a low angry growl escaped him.
"Raph!" Leo snapped.
"What!" Raph glared at his brother for a moment.
"Now isn't the time Raph," Don looked up from where he was kneeling on the floor. Raph took a deep breath and let it hiss out between clenched teeth. He wanted to go hunt down every single Foot soldier that was in this place, and kill them all. He stared at his daughter who was still sprawled face down on the floor. He knew that his brother was right.
Don stared at him with urgent eyes, "I need your help right now, Raph!"
"Yeah," Raph nodded his head jerkily.
"What do ya' want me ta' do?"
"Every time I try to clean her wounds, Elizabeth moves away. Which will make her injuries worse. I need you to hold her. Keep her steady so I can do this as fast as I can, and we can all get out of here." Raph walked over to where Elisabeth laid on the floor, and sat down in front of her. Slowly...painfully, she raised her head and looked up at him. No more pain, her eyes seemed to plead with him.
"Lift her up under her arms, and rest her left side against you," Don stated. He didn't want her shoulder getting any worse. Raph followed his instructions, and was surprised by how light she felt. Gently he pulled her against his plastron. Her head then dropped onto her chest, and she just sat there. Don moved toward them with a new iodine soaked pad in his hand. He started to wipe her wounds gently and carefully. But she howled in pain anyways, and jerked away from Don involuntarily, causing Leo and Mikey to cringe at her reactions.
"Hold her Raph," Don said from between clenched teeth. For a moment Raph didn't want to do that. There seemed to be no part of her that wasn't injured in some way. Eventually he just placed one hand on her left shoulder, and the other on her right hip holding her firmly, but gently. Even then she struggled every time Don touched her ruined back.
"Can't ya' give her somethin'!" Raph demanded frantically. Don shook his head 'no'.
"She hasn't eaten anything in a while Raph, and I don't think they gave her much to drink. On top of which she's lost a lot of blood. If I give her anything right now it could kill her," Don replied in a hurry, and continued what he was a doing. Raph cringed inwardly as he saw what his brother was doing, and tried to block everything else out of his mind.
"It's ok," he murmured to her. Angry the red masked turtle may have been. But when it came to his daughter, he became something that he could never be with anyone else.
"Nononono!" her head shook back and forth violently.
"Yeah, we'll be going home soon and it'll be ok. I'll take good care of ya' baby, don't ya' worry." Raph's voice was gentle.
"C-cold," Elisabeth uttered as she huddled against him, even though he knew it must be causing her more pain.
"Don has a blanket that ya' can have later after he's done. Ok, baby?"
" 'm sorry," she mumbled thickly against his plastron.
"Ya' got nothin' to be sorry for. I'm sorry for not findin' ya' sooner. I feel like it's my fault for them takin' ya' in the first place." Raph didn't know what else to say. But anyways she passed out, probably from the pain she was in.
Sensing Raph's concern about Elizabeth not being awake Don said, "Not passed out, fell asleep," he mumbled, as he taped a temporary bandage to her back, and moved around in front of her to look at her stomach.
"How can anyone sleep through the kind of pain she must be in?" Leo asked in a horrified voice.
"She feels safe now," Don replied simply.
"And her pain has finally given into exhaustion. Most of these injuries were caused over the last few days. I doubt she was allowed to get much rest until now."
Don's lips drew back from his teeth slightly, as he inspected the wounds on her stomach and shoulder. He quickly disinfected and bandaged them. Then he draped the blanket over her and nodded to Raph. "There's not much more I can do here. Let's get her back to the Lair, and I can take care of the rest there."
Leo came forward with concern, "Here...let me help." Raph waved him off as he stood lifting his daughter in his arms. Her head rested against his shoulder now, and her face had that pained expression on it. Even in sleep, she couldn't get relief from what those bastards had done to her!