Chapter 5-An Intruder in the Castle!

The group soon reached Anna's home, which was a large vintage castle, and Anna opened the door before guiding the men inside.

"Welcome to my home; Valerious Castle!" Anna said as she brought them into the main hall of the castle.

The turtle brothers, Van Helsing, and Carl looked around the main hall in awe when they saw the many paintings, armoured knights, and hanging weapons featured within it.

"Whoa, nice digs…!" Raph complimented.

"Yeah, it's got quite a medieval look to it, but a good type of medieval with unique paintings…!" Donnie said in agreement.

"Thank you…My family has been known to having great tastes in furniture for this castle…" Anna replied with a smile.

"Hey, dudes, check it out!" Mikey called out before he stood behind one of the armoured knight models.

"On guard, vile beast!" He said, mimicking a brave knight's voice whilst moving the model's arm with the sword in up and down.

Suddenly, the arm came lose and fell out of Mikey's grip due to the sword's heavy weight, resulting in it clanging to the ground.

"Mikey, this is why you shouldn't touch anything in somebody else's home…" Leo reminded his little brother in a displeased tone.

"Err, heh, heh…Sorry…" Mikey apologised sheepishly before getting to work on attaching the arm back on the knight's body.

Anna chuckled whilst shaking her head in amusement before she spoke.

"Shall we head into the dining room and discuss more about our talk from earlier?"

Everyone agreed that it would be a good idea to do that, and they all followed Anna as she guided them to where the dining room was. As soon as they approached the dining room table and took their seats, Leo spoke first.

"Before we talk about the mission against Dracula, my brothers and I would like to explain to you more about where we're really from, Anna…"

"Oh? And what is it that you wish to tell me?" Anna asked, now very interested in what the turtle brothers might say to her.

"Well…" Donnie said before he started telling the human female the first part of the turtle brothers' story.

/

15 minutes later…

By the time the turtle brothers finished their explanation on how they ended up in the very far past, the human trio were looking at them in fascination, even though both Van Helsing and Carl had already known about this.

"So, you four are actually from another time?" Anna questioned, more curious than surprised.

"Yes, there was an accident and we were transported here in the past through no fault of our own…" Donnie confirmed.

"And now we're stuck here until we find our time travelling friend…" Mikey added with a groan.

"I see…I am so sorry that you're in this predicament…I will do what I can to help you return home to your own time…" Anna said sympathetically.

"We really appreciate it, thank you…" Leo said gratefully.

"My pleasure…In the meantime, we would be very grateful if you could help us with stopping Count Dracula for good…" Anna replied in a slightly serious tone.

"Of course…As long as we're here, we'd be happy to lend you a hand…right, my brothers?" Leo offered before he looked at his brothers when he said the last part.

"Yeah!" "Count us in!" Raph, Donnie, and Mikey cheered their replies.

"Thank you, my friends…However, I feel that it would be best that we discuss more on our mission tomorrow after everyone has had a good rest…" Van Helsing said wisely when he noticed how tired the turtle brothers looked.

When Anna and Carl looked at the ninja turtles more closely, they could tell immediately that they were showing signs of exhaustion, especially the youngest Mikey who had let out a long yawn.

"I think you're right, Van Helsing; they do look tired…" Carl pointed out in agreement.

"You four can stay and rest in the shared guests' bedroom upstairs…" Anna offered kindly.

"Thank you, Anna…It has been a long day and we could really do with some rest…" Leo said gratefully.

"Yer tellin' me…!" Raph said before he stretched and let out a yawn.

"Before we all go to bed, though, let's have some supper; you must all be very hungry after having an eventful day today…!" Anna proposed as she stood up.

"You're right, Anna…Now that I think about it, we've hardly had anything to eat since we arrived in this time period…" Leo replied in thought.

"Then, I'll start getting the food ready…!" Anna said as she walked away from the group and headed towards the kitchen.

"I'll come and give you a hand, Anna…!" Mikey offered happily, despite feeling tired, before following her into the kitchen.

"Oh, does your brother cook?" Van Helsing questioned.

"Yeah, he's da only one out of da four of us who can cook up somethin' decent…!" Raph explained with a smirk.

"Why? Can you three not make your own meals yourselves?" Carl asked curiously.

"Let's just say that we had to bring the kitchen back from the dead a few times after we used it…" Leo answered grimly.

"What do you mean by that?" Van Helsing questioned in confusion.

"Err, you don't wanna know…Trust me…" Donnie answered nervously, not wanting to tell Van Helsing and Carl about their numerous failed attempts to make meals for the family.

/

Later in the night…

After finishing their supper, which was a delicious vegetable soup made by Anna and Mikey, the turtle brothers and their new human friends all went to bed for the night.

Leo, Raph, Donnie, Mikey, and Carl were snoring away in their beds whilst wrapped up warm in their blankets as a sudden thunderstorm begun to brew outside.

The only ones who were still up were Van Helsing and Anna. The two humans were on separate floor levels of the castle; Van Helsing was on the staircase and looking at the paintings on the walls, whilst Anna was standing by her bedroom window and looking deep in thought about her lost brother.

Suddenly…

Smash!

The sound of a window smashing was heard coming from the weaponry room. Anna immediately rushed towards the room to see what had made the noise.

When she got there, Anna noticed that the room was pitch-black and could only see what was inside with the help of the full moon's light and whenever the lightning flashed outside by the windows, one of which she discovered to have been completely smash to pieces.

She instantly reached and grabbed for a gun and started walking around the room when she was hit with a feeling of being watched. Whatever it was that was in the room with her, it was currently hiding above her from plain sight and was eyeing her with its sensitive vision.

Just then, a large cloud covered up the full moon like a curtain, causing the room to be a bit dimmer due to the lack of natural moonlight.

And it wasn't until a moment later, that Anna felt a presence behind her. She turned around quickly and froze as soon as she recognised who it was…

"A-Anna…" It was Velkan, her brother!

"Velkan!? You're alive! I thought I'd lost you!" Anna said in relief and happiness before caressing his cheek, but Velkan lightly batted her hand away.

"Anna, please…there's no time, I have to tell you-" Velkan tried to give his sister a warning, but he was suddenly cut off by a wave of pain in his body and he started climbing the wall as he continued to hurt on the inside.

Then, as soon as the cloud moved and revealed the full moon, Anna watched in horror as Velkan cried out in pain and slowly begun to transform into something that she dreaded and encountered before; a werewolf!

"No…no, no, no, no…!" Anna said tearfully.

Velkan ripped off his skin bit-by-bit to reveal dark brown-coloured fur whilst his fingers and toes grew sharp claw-like nails, and his face also changed to resemble that of a wolf.

"RRROOOOAAAARRRR!" Velkan roared loudly after the transformation was completed before looking at a now shocked Anna with fierce eyes.

Just then, Van Helsing appeared through the doorway after hearing the commotion, and he immediately got his handgun out as soon as he saw the werewolf on the wall.

"Anna!" He called out, causing Velkan to look at him and then flee by climbing further up the wall and smashing through a window above the room.

"Anna, are you alright? Anna!" Van Helsing cried out again as he got closer to the human female, who still looked deep in shock to notice him, before he hurried out onto the balcony to see if he could spot the werewolf.

It was then that he spotted the creature swimming through the water and then running into some woods not far from the castle.

"Why does it smell like wet dog in here?" Carl suddenly questioned in confusion as he and the turtle brothers appeared in the room's doorway.

"Werewolf!" Van Helsing shouted in alarm before dashing off towards the door.

The turtle brothers looked at each other with wide eyes before they followed Van Helsing out of the castle. However, Mikey stopped when he noticed that Anna wasn't moving.

"Anna, come on! We have to hurry!" Mikey called out, causing the human female to snap out of her shock and follow Mikey out of the castle to catch up with the others.

Soon, the group were outside in the deep forest where the werewolf was seen last. They looked around to try and see where he was hiding.

Then…

"RROOOAAARRR!" Velkan jumped out of hiding with a roar, catching the group by surprise.

"Head's up!" Donnie warned everyone before he and the others dodged out of the way to avoid getting hit.

"Be careful; this werewolf's fast!" Van Helsing alerted the group as he loaded some silver bullets into his gun.

"Noted!" Mikey replied as he readied his nun-chucks.

"Anna! Stop standing around; we need your help!" Leo said firmly before dodging as Velkan tried to attack him.

"R-Right!" Anna replied shakily after snapping out of her thoughts before taking out her gun and joining the group in the fight.

Then, the werewolf jumped into the shadows of the trees and, instead of jumping back out, he kept moving from one tree to another to try and confuse the group.

"Where are ya!? Come out and face me!" Raph challenged in frustration as he looked around to try and find the werewolf.

Unbeknownst to the red-banded turtle, Velkan was hiding within the trees directly behind him and he suddenly made his appearance by jumping out of hiding and heading towards him with his teeth exposed.

Nobody saw this coming quick enough, except Mikey.

"Raph, watch out!" Mikey shouted as he ran over to his red-banded brother and pushed him out of the way just before the werewolf could attack him.

Mikey himself, however, was not so lucky.

"AAARRGH!" The orange-banded turtle screamed in excruciating pain as he felt the werewolf's teeth pierce through the skin on his right shoulder after he jumped on him.

"Mikey!" "Michelangelo!" The others shouted in horror when they heard and saw Mikey get bitten.

As soon as the werewolf had let Mikey go and jumped away, the orange-banded turtle collapsed to the ground, holding his wounded shoulder whilst doubling in pain, before he watched in fear as the werewolf charged towards him again.

"Get away from my brother!" Raph shouted angrily as he blocked the werewolf's path and tried to land a few jabs on him with his sais, but the creature swiftly dodged them.

Whilst this was going on, Van-Helsing prepared his crossbow and aimed it at the werewolf. Just as he was about to pull the trigger, however…

"No, don't!" Anna yelled out as she pushed the weapon out of range, causing Van Helsing to miss the werewolf seconds before he ran off into the darkness.

"Anna, why'd ya stop him!?" Raph scolded angrily.

"Because, Raphael…that was my brother, Velkan!" Anna confessed firmly.

"Wha-? Your brother!? But he's dead, isn't he!?" Leo pointed out whilst looking at Anna with wide eyes.

"I thought he was too, but I didn't know he was still alive until he revealed himself to me in the castle earlier…!" Anna explained in disbelief.

Whilst this was going on, Donnie and Carl hurried over to Mikey, who was still laying on the ground and holding his wounded and bloodied shoulder in pain.

"Mikey, are you ok!?" Donnie asked worryingly as he placed a cloth over the bite wound to try and slow the bleeding down.

"Y-Yeah, it just hurts…!" Mikey answered with a grimace whilst being sat up by Carl and Donnie.

Leo observed his youngest brother in concern before he looked at Anna, who was looking at Mikey with an extremely worried expression on her face.

"Anna, is something wrong?" He asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Hm? Oh…No, it's nothing…" Anna answered after snapping out of her thoughts. Although Leo wasn't 100% convinced, he decided not to press the issue for now and refocused his attention on his youngest brother.

"C'mon, bro, let's get that wound cleaned and patched up…" The duo heard Donnie say to Mikey before he and Carl helped the young turtle stand back up.

"Thanks…" Mikey said through gritted teeth due to the burning sensation coming from the bite wound.

"Let's get back to the castle and regroup…" Leo said before he started his walk back towards Anna's castle, with the others following him from behind whilst keeping their eyes on a wounded Mikey.

As they left, however, Carl stopped when he noticed something big and tall in the far distance from the group's location. When he looked a bit closer, his eyes widened; it was another castle!

"What in the world…?" Carl whispered to himself.

"Carl, let's go!" He then jumped when he heard Van Helsing calling for him.

"Right! Coming!" Carl replied before he took one more quick look at the castle and then hurried towards the others to catch up with them.

/

Valerious Castle…

The group had managed to return to the castle safely, and they guided Mikey into the shared bedroom where Donnie immediately went to work with cleaning and bandaging Mikey's bite wound.

Luckily, it wasn't too deep for the need to have stitches, but it was still bleeding quite a bit. It was also very painful in movement for the youngest turtle, who was now feeling worn out and sore from his near-death experience with a werewolf.

"There, that should do it…How does it feel now, Mikey?" Donnie asked after tying the bandage.

"A lil' better…" Mikey answered tiredly with a wince when he moved his shoulder slightly.

"You should take it easy and sleep for the rest of tonight, bro…" Leo suggested when he noticed how exhausted and in pain Mikey looked, with Donnie nodding in agreement.

"Why'd ya do dat, Mikey!? Ya could've been killed!" Raph questioned suddenly with anger showing on his face, making Mikey and the others jump.

"Wha-? I was protecting you, just like any other brother would do…!" Mikey answered, shocked that Raph was questioning his earlier actions instead of thanking him for saving his life.

"I didn't need protectin'; I had him!" Raph denied bitterly.

"No, you didn't! He was gonna attack you from behind, Raph! You would've never seen him coming!" Mikey countered, upset at Raph's lie.

"So? It still doesn't give ya da right ta get in my way and act like a hero!" Raph bit back in denial again.

"T-That's not what I was doing at all…! I was just being there for you! Is that wrong of me too, now!?" Mikey said shakily with a glare.

"What da ya mean by dat?" Raph questioned, confused at Mikey's last words.

"You and the others have always complained about me not doing enough to protect our family! I did what I did earlier to show you that I can protect you, but now you're saying that it was wrong of me to do it!? Make up your mind, Raph…!" Mikey answered in frustration.

"I'm just sayin' dat me, Leo, and Donnie all protect ya cos we're da older brothers and yer da youngest…Not da other way round…!" Raph explained firmly.

"So, that's it then; you don't want me to protect you and the others anymore, no matter what happens…?" Mikey questioned whilst trying not to cry.

"…No, I don't…None of us do…" Raph answered harshly in a low tone without thinking twice or letting Leo and Donnie have their say.

Everyone looked at Raph in shock before they looked at Mikey, who was now looking at Raph as if he had just been stabbed in the chest before he bowed his head down to avoid eye contact.

"…I-I wanna be alone…" Mikey said miserably with tears threatening to fall down his face.

"Mikey…" Leo said softly as he attempted to get closer and comfort his baby brother.

"GO AWAY!" Mikey snapped angrily at him and the others, making them jump and step back, before he covered his tear-filled eyes with his good hand as he slowly broke down.

As much as they wanted to stay and comfort the youngest turtle, the turtle brothers and the human trio decided that they should respect his wishes and leave him be to have some time alone and calm down.

Before leaving himself, however, Donnie walked over to Mikey and gently wrapped his arms around him to give him a brotherly hug whilst being mindful of his bite wound.

"I'll come back to check on you later, ok?" Donnie whispered comfortingly in Mikey's ear before he received a small nod from Mikey, and then he released his brother from the hug and made his way out of the room to give him some space.

/

Dining room…

The turtles, Van Helsing, Carl, and Anna all headed towards the dining room to take a moment to settle down and clear their minds after the events from earlier.

As soon as they reached the table, Leo could no longer hold back his anger and he snapped at Raph.

"How could you do that to him, Raphael!? He took a serious bite from a werewolf for you and you just scolded him for it!"

"Yeah, and you basically just told him that he would never be able to protect any of us from harm, no matter what happens to us!" Donnie added heatedly.

"Hey! I was only tryin' ta make him understand dat I don't need ta be protected by him! I'm not a lil' kid anymore, and I can take care of myself!" Raph bit back defensively.

"None of us are little kids anymore, Raph, but you're forgetting that we all look out for each other in this life of ours…!" Leo countered firmly.

"That's right! And it was completely unfair of you to tell Mikey that it was wrong of him to protect you and that only us three have the right to do the protecting!" Donnie pointed out harshly.

"I-I never said dat it was wrong…!" Raph said in denial.

"Well, Mikey seemed to think that you did…!" Leo bit back with folded arms.

"Also, Mikey made a good point earlier; we've all complained about him not being there to protect us when we've protected him in the past…He did what he did earlier because he no longer wanted to be viewed that way by us anymore…" Donnie pointed out in a guilty tone.

"I-I'm just sayin' dat protectin' you guys is my main role…! I don't want dat ta be taken away from me…!" Raph admitted defensively.

"Look, Raph…I understand that you want to be the only one to protect us, but we all share that role equally in this family, because it's like I told Mikey a few years back; in this life, we only have each other…if one of us goes down, we all go down…" Leo reminded his immediate older brother firmly with a sigh.

Raph let out a frustrated sigh and pinched the top of his nose when a small headache started to develop in his head. The reason was because he didn't feel like his feelings were being put on board, while at the same time, the guilt of scolding his youngest brother for saving his life was slowly building up inside his heart.

Just then, Anna approached the red-banded turtle and placed a hand on his shoulder before she spoke to him in a firm but caring tone.

"Raphael, you should be lucky and grateful to have three brothers around you to watch your back. I have only one brother and he has become a werewolf that is being controlled by Dracula, so I don't know if I will ever get him back to his human self again or even have him back alive…!"

By now, after hearing Anna's words, Raph was starting to feel guilty for his actions towards Mikey. Even though he was frustrated at having his shell saved by his youngest brother, he hated the thought of seeing him hurting both physically and mentally because of him.

"Shell…I better go and apologise ta him, huh…" He said with a sigh.

"Yes, but I suggest that you apologise to Mikey tomorrow morning since he's too upset and exhausted to want to talk to you right now…" Leo replied flatly.

"Right…" Raph said in a deflated tone.

"Come, let's us have a warm drink before we turn in for the night…" Anna proposed before she walked over to the pot near the fireplace and took it to go and fill it up with water and herbs.

"That does sound good right about now…Thank you, Anna…" Leo said gratefully before he made himself comfortable on one of the dining chairs.

"I'll take a drink up to Mikey later, if that's ok with you, guys…" Donnie said.

"That's fine, Donatello; the herbs in this drink should help him relax and sleep better after all…" Anna replied as she put the pot back above the fire. A couple of minutes later, Anna poured the drinks into cups and passed them round to the group.

After spending half an hour of quietly relaxing and drinking their hot beverages, Leo spoke and broke the silence.

"Depending on Mikey's condition in the morning, what should we do tomorrow?"

The others paused and thought for a moment.

"Well…there is something that I've found earlier that we should investigate on tomorrow…" Carl said, raising a finger in the air.

"What's that?" Anna asked curiously.

"Just before we left the forest, I noticed a castle not far from where we were standing…and if I recall correctly, the werewolf fled in the same direction as where that castle is located…" Carl explained.

The others were both surprised and shocked to hear this, because they never knew that there was another castle not far from their location until Carl pointed it out.

"Whose castle does it belong to? Dracula?" Leo guessed.

"No, it can't be…If I remember correctly, Dracula's castle is in an unknown location, and no-one has ever found it…" Van Helsing corrected whilst shaking his head.

"If that's the case then, shall we start gathering information about it in the village tomorrow?" Donnie suggested.

"Sounds like a good plan ta me…!" Raph said happily.

"Agreed, if anyone knows about that castle, then it has to be someone within the village…" Anna said in agreement.

"Then, it's settled…Once everyone is awake and had breakfast, we will head to the village and ask the people for any information about the other castle…" Leo said, finalising the plan for tomorrow.

Everyone nodded in agreement before Raph let out a yawn and spoke.

"Well, I'm gonna head fer bed…"

"Me too, and I need to take a drink up to Mikey…" Donnie said before he turned to Anna and asked her a question.

"Is there still any left in the pot, Anna?"

"Yes, Donatello; just enough for one more person…Be careful; it's still hot…" Anna answered as she poured what was left in the pot into a spare cup and passed it to Donnie.

"Thank you, Anna…we'll see you in the morning…" Donnie said gratefully before slowly walking away towards the shared bedroom.

"Yes, goodnight to you all…" "Goodnight, my friends…" Anna and Van Helsing said as they and Carl waved them off.

"Goodnight, everyone…" Leo and Raph said in unison before following Donnie back to the shared bedroom.

When the older turtle brothers entered the room, they saw Mikey still awake and sat up in his bed, but they could see that the young turtle was now looking very tired and was trying his hardest to stay awake. Knowing that his youngest brother would not want to talk to him until tomorrow, Raph stayed quiet as he walked past him and the others to head for his own bed.

Leo and Donnie did not say anything and allowed him to go, because they didn't want to make either of their brothers uncomfortable by forcing them to talk to each other tonight when they're both physically or emotionally drained from their earlier encounter with a werewolf. Instead, they focused on making sure that Mikey was alright.

"Hey, Mikey…How are you doing?" Leo asked softly.

"…M'fine…just tired…" Mikey mumbled flatly whilst avoiding eye contact with him.

Leo and Donnie looked at each other in concern before Donnie sat on the edge of Mikey's bed and spoke.

"Here, little brother; Anna made us all some warm tea to help us sleep better…She saved some for you too…"

"Oh…thanks…" Mikey replied in slight surprise when he saw the steaming mug in front of him before he slowly took it from Donnie's hands.

After being warned about the drink's hot temperature by Donnie, Mikey drank the herbal brew in small sips until the cup was empty. He then passed the cup back to Donnie before he let out a yawn and rubbed his eyes when he started to feel sleepy.

"Get some sleep now, Mikey…We'll see you in the morning…" Donnie said warmly as he helped Mikey get comfortable in his bed before tucking him in with his blanket.

"Sleep well, Mikey…" Leo said softly with a warm smile.

"G'night, bros…" Mikey replied in a slur before falling into a deep sleep.

Relieved that Mikey was now fast asleep, Leo and Donnie headed towards their own beds to get some sleep too.

After all, tomorrow might be another day full of unexpected events, and they must be ready and fully prepared for what was to come.