Chapter 6-Solving a Castle Mystery
The next morning…
The sun slowly rose into the sky as another day dawned.
Leo was the first person to wake up; he stretched his body and yawned before he got up and immediately walked towards Mikey's bed to check on his baby brother due to still feeling worried about him after he got attacked by a werewolf last night. When he got there and looked at Mikey, he noticed that the young turtle was sleeping slightly more peacefully than he was before, meaning that the warm herbal drink's effects had done the trick.
"How is he?" Donnie's voice was heard from behind him. Leo turned his head halfway to see the purple-banded turtle rubbing the sleep from his eyes as he approached him.
"Still asleep…Hm?" Leo answered before he saw Mikey's eyes twitch. Then, the young turtle slowly opened his eyes with a groan.
"Oh, you're awake…!" Leo said in relief.
"H-Hey…" Mikey rasped out with a small tired smile.
"Morning, Mikey…How are you feeling?" Donnie greeted his brother as he got closer to the bed.
"M-My shoulder stings a little, but m'okay…" Mikey answered tiredly with a wince when he moved his wounded shoulder.
"Are you sure? You look a little drained…" Leo pointed out worryingly.
"It's probably because he's still recovering from the shock of being attacked by a werewolf…or from the slight blood loss from his bite wound…" Donnie theorised whilst unwrapping the bandage to assess Mikey's wound.
"Maybe…Do you feeling up for having some breakfast, Mikey?" Leo asked gently.
"Yeah, m'starving…" Mikey answered with another small smile.
"Well, that's good…at least your appetite hasn't been affected…!" Donnie said in an amused tone whilst breathing a sigh of relief and rewrapping Mikey's shoulder.
"Come on then, let's get you up…" Leo said as he and Donnie helped Mikey sit up and climb out of his bed.
Mikey winced and groaned at the pain in his shoulder, but he managed to push past it and get up without any issues. He was then guided out of the bedroom and towards the dining room by the brothers, where the others were waiting for them.
They soon reached the dining room, and they saw Van Helsing, Anna, Carl, and Raph sitting by the table and looked deep in their own thoughts. Van Helsing was the first person to sense the others coming.
"Ah, good morning…I see that Michelangelo is up as well…" The dark-clothed male said with a relieved smile.
"Yeah, and despite feeling tired and sore, he doesn't seem to be suffering from any after-effects from last night's attack…" Donnie said in his 'Doctor Don' tone.
"In that case, I will start making breakfast for everyone…!" Anna chimed in as she stood up from her seat and started walking towards the kitchen.
"I'll come and give you a hand, Anna…" Carl offered as he hurried towards the kitchen with her.
After watching them go, Leo and Donnie helped Mikey sit down on his seat, which was next to Raph's, before sitting in their own seats. It was then that Raph looked at Mikey and decided that now was the best time to talk to him.
"Hey, bro…" Raph said softly.
"H-Hey…" Mikey replied nervously.
"So, err…listen, bro, I…erm…" Raph started talking, but he stuttered his words because he was unsure on what he should say without upsetting his brother even more.
"Y-Yeah?" Mikey said shakily.
"I just wanna say dat…I'm sorry fer what I said ta ya last night…" Raph finally said after getting himself together.
"H-Huh?" Mikey said.
"Da things dat I said ta ya were harsh and I didn't mean a word of it, cos I said 'em out of anger fer what dat fleabag did ta ya last night…and dat I let my guard down, making ya take da hit fer me in da process…" Raph explained guiltily.
"B-But you hated the fact that I saved you…" Mikey reminded shakily.
"I know I said dat, but da true is…I'm actually really grateful ta ya fer savin' me…" Raph replied immediately.
"W-Wha…?" Mikey stuttered, now stunned at what Raph had just told him.
"I've always thought that protectin' da family was my role and mine alone, but after what happened last night, I've realised dat I was bein' selfish…Each of us has a part ta play in keepin' our family safe, includin' you…" Raph said with regret in his voice before he stood up from his chair, got closer to Mikey's chair, and knelt down next to him as he held his hand out.
"I'm really sorry fer makin' ya feel like ya were unneeded, bro…Please, forgive me…" He then said in an almost pleading tone.
Mikey looked back and forth at Raph and his hand in shock for a moment before he smiled slowly and tears developed in his eyes. Then, he did something that neither Raph nor the others were expecting to happen; he engulfed Raph into a big hug whilst being mindful of his wounded shoulder.
"T-Thanks, Raphie…I-I forgive you, bro…" Mikey whispered as the tears fell down his face. Raph was frozen in surprise for a moment before he melted into the hug whilst letting out a relieved sigh after being forgiven by his little brother.
The others looked on with warm and relieved smiles, knowing now that Raph had reconciled with Mikey and that their brotherly bond was strong once more.
"Now that you two have made up, let's eat!" Anna's voice was suddenly heard, causing the others to look over and see her and Carl walking over to the table whilst carrying trays full of plated breakfast food, including eggs, sausages, bacon, and slices of bread and butter, as well as cups full of water.
The others nodded in delight, and they accepted their plates and cups before they all begun to eat their breakfasts.
/
20 minutes later…
The turtle brothers and the human trio were all relaxing on their seats in silence to allow their breakfasts to settle in their stomachs before Van Helsing spoke up.
"I know that we have only just eaten breakfast, but we must now make a move to the village and gather information on this mystery castle…"
"You're right, Van Helsing…C'mon, everyone, let's get going…" Leo said in agreement before he and his brothers stood up from their seats.
"Before we all head out, though, I want to give these to you four…" Anna said suddenly as she walked into the hallway, and then back over to the turtle brothers with four paper-wrapped packages in her arms.
Leo, Raph, Donnie, and Mikey looked at the packages curiously before they took one each out of Anna's hands. When they opened them, their eyes widened in surprise; inside each of the packages was a hooded cape, a belt with two satchel bags, and a water bottle.
"Whoa, cool! New clothes!" Mikey said in excitement as he held up the cape.
"These are for us?" Leo asked in astonishment.
"Yes…Since you are all going to be staying here for a while, I thought that it would be better for you all to wear something that would not make you feel the odd ones out with the villagers…" Anna explained.
"Good point…The villagers were immediately suspicious of us as soon as they saw us for the first time…" Donnie reminded with a grimace after mentally recalling the memory from yesterday.
"Yeah…Definitely don't wanna go through all dat again…" Raph said in agreement.
"Well, what are we waiting for, bros? Let's gear up!" Mikey said excitedly before he started putting his gear on, even though he put his cape on backwards at first.
His older brothers laughed before they too put on their new gear. After a few minutes went by, the turtle brothers were all kitted up and ready to go.
"What do you think, guys?" Mikey asked the human trio.
"They suit you well…!" Van Helsing answered with a smile, with Carl nodding in agreement.
"Yes, they look great on you…!" Anna said happily, relieved that their new clothes had fit them perfectly.
"Now then, shall we start making tracks for the village?" Leo suggested after a moment of silence.
The others nodded to say 'Yes' before they all made their way out of Anna's castle and headed towards the village to start their first phase of the mission.
/
The village…
The group arrived at the village, and they noticed that the villagers were looking at them with calm and happy faces before going back to what they were doing. This was a good thing since the turtle brothers were able to gain the people's trust after keeping them safe from yesterday's vampire attack.
"Alright, let's split up and ask around for any information regarding the mystery castle and its owner. We'll meet back at the well near the courtyard in 20 minutes, ok?" Leo said to the group after a moment of silence.
The others nodded before each member of the group walked away in different directions to start questioning the villagers.
Sometime later, the group had asked most of the villagers for information about the mysterious castle. Unfortunately, they all refused to tell them anything useful because they were either scared or they didn't want to get involved with what the group was doing.
Whilst Leo, Van Helsing, Carl, and Anna continued on with their questioning on one side of the village, Raph decided to take a breather and walked over to a bench on the other side of the village where he saw Mikey sitting on it and looking a bit down on himself.
"Ya found anythin' out, bro?" Raph asked gruffly as he sat down next to him.
"No, nothing…You?" Mikey answered in disappointment before asking his brother if he had found something out on his side.
"Same…it's like these villagers are afraid ta say anythin'…" Raph said with a sigh whilst rubbing the back of his neck.
"Yeah, they were like that with me too…So, what do we do now? Should we wait for the others at the well?" Mikey questioned, now unsure of what he should do next.
Before Raph could answer that, however…
"Mikey…! Hi…!" A young girl's voice suddenly called out from behind the duo.
When Raph and Mikey turned to their right to see who was calling them, they were surprised to see that it was Mila, the little girl who Mikey had saved from the vampire brides yesterday.
"Mila…? Hey, there!" Mikey greeted before he knelt down and opened his arms out as the little girl ran towards him to give him a hug.
Shortly after hugging her, Mikey winced and grunted when the bodily contact had caused the wound on his shoulder to hurt. Mila immediately released him when that happened, and it was then that she saw the bandage on his shoulder.
"Are you ok? Are you hurt?" The young girl asked worriedly.
"Don't worry, I'm fine…I just got attacked by a mysterious intruder that broke into Anna's castle last night…" Mikey reassured Mila whilst gently rubbing his sore shoulder. He didn't tell her the whole truth about the intruder because he didn't want to scare her after what she went through in yesterday's events in the village.
"Will it come back…?" Mila questioned nervously.
"Nah, not if we can help it…!" Raph answered confidently.
"Good! I don't like it when monsters come out and attack our village…" Mila replied in relief before she asked them a question.
"Are you looking for something? I saw you asking questions to the other villagers…"
"Yeah, we just wanna know who that castle in the far distance belongs to…" Mikey explained as he pointed at the silhouette of the mysterious castle that was far away from the village.
"Really? My momma told me that nobody ever goes near that castle; I've heard scary stories about a horrible monster that was made there…" Mila said in a scared tone as she wrapped her arms around herself in fear.
"A monster…!?" Raph and Mikey said in unison, their eyes widening in shock as they looked at each other and then back at Mila.
"Yeah…" Mila replied with a nod.
"Mila? There you are…!" A woman's voice suddenly called out from behind Mila.
When Mikey, Raph, and Mila looked to see who was shouting, they saw that it was the little girl's mother, who was now running towards her.
"I thought I told you not to wander off on your own…!" The woman then said scoldingly after catching her breath.
"Sorry, Momma…I was just talking to Mikey and his brother…" Mila explained, now feeling guilty for making her mother worry.
"Oh, it's you! You're Mila's mother…!" Mikey said in surprise.
"Yes, hello…Thank you again for saving my daughter yesterday…" Sophia greeted with a small smile.
"No problem, Miss…!" Mikey replied with a nod.
"Please, call me Sophia…I know that I don't usually trust non-human creatures, but your actions yesterday have earned you my trust and the right to call me by my first name…" Sophia said kindly.
"Momma, Mikey and his brothers want to know about that castle over there…" Mila told her mother before she pointed at the faraway castle.
"Are you serious? That castle!? You cannot go there; it's dangerous!" Sophia warned fearfully.
"Yes, we're serious…it's important that we know who it belongs to, so that we can continue with our mission in stopping Dracula…" Mikey explained in a slightly serious tone, with Raph humming in agreement.
Sophia took a moment to think about what she should do. She didn't like the idea of telling two human-like turtles the story of the castle's real owner, but if it was going to help them in taking out Dracula once and for all, what choice did she have?
Besides, she felt that she had to do something as a way of repaying the turtle brothers for saving her daughter and protecting the villagers from the vampire brides yesterday.
"Alright, come with me to our house…I will tell you everything that I know about the castle…" She said quietly to keep the other villagers from hearing her before she started walking towards her house, with little Mila walking closely next to her and holding her hand.
Raph and Mikey looked at each other before they followed Sophia and Mila to their home.
/
Sophia's and Mila's house…
As soon as they reached the house, Sophia opened the door and allowed Mila to go inside first before she led Raph and Mikey inside and guided them towards the seating area near the fireplace. Once everyone was comfortable on their chairs, Sophia begun her story on who the owner of the mystery castle belonged to.
"One year ago, a man named Dr. Victor Frankenstein lived in that old castle and decided to create a monster with the help of his assistant, Igor, and Count Dracula…"
"Wait, hold up a minute! Did ya just say Count Dracula!? He was involved in dis!?" Raph questioned abruptly.
"Yes, and when the villagers found out about both the experiment and the creature, they stormed the castle before they chased after the doctor's creation towards an old windmill to try and kill him too…" Sophia answered as she explained more of the story.
"An old windmill?" Mikey questioned.
"Yes, and it was there that the villagers caused a fire that destroyed the windmill and killed Dr Frankenstein's monster…" Sophia concluded her story.
"But hasn't anyone checked to see if the monster was really dead?" Raph questioned.
"No, all the villagers were very certain that the monster had been destroyed in the fire…" Sophia answered, shaking her head.
"What happened to Igor and the Doctor?" Mikey asked nervously.
"…Dracula killed Dr. Frankenstein, and Igor decided to work for him afterward…" Sophia answered, confirming the worst.
"What!?" Raph, Mikey, and Mila all cried out in shock.
"Why da shell would those two creeps do dat!?" Raph questioned angrily.
"I wish I knew…there have, however, been rumours that Dracula used and betrayed Dr. Frankenstein in order to steal his research and use it for himself, and Igor might've switched sides in order to protect his own life…" Sophia theorised.
"But, what does Dracula hope to achieve with this research?" Mikey asked in confusion.
"I do not know…but whatever he's planning right now, it's not going to be good…" Sophia answered with anxiety and fear building up inside her.
Raph and Mikey were about to ask Sophia another question when they noticed that Mila was starting to feel scared after hearing everything about last year's horrible incident.
"I think you've told us everything we need to know now, Sophia…Thanks…" Mikey said kindly.
"You're welcome, it's the least I can do to repay you for saving my daughter…" Sophia replied gratefully.
"Then, I guess we're callin' it even, huh…" Raph said with a warm smirk.
"Well, we better get going and tell the others about what we've found out…right, Raph?" Mikey said wisely.
"Yer right, bro, let's go…" Raph said in agreement before he and Mikey stood up from their chairs.
"Oh, wait! I almost forgot!" Mila suddenly cried out, stopping the two brothers from moving, before she ran off towards the kitchen and picked up a package before running back and facing Mikey.
"Here, we've baked a loaf of milk bread for you as a thank-you present!" She said as she passed the package to Mikey, who looked at it in surprise.
When he carefully opened it to look at the bread, he smiled in delight as soon as he smelt the aroma coming off of the golden-brown loaf.
"Wow! This looks tasty…! We can't wait to show the others and try it…!" Mikey said excitedly.
"Yeah! Thanks, kid…!" Raph said before rubbing Mila's head, making her giggle.
The turtle duo made their way out of Sophia's and Mila's house and stopped by the door when Sophia gave them one more piece of advice.
"You and your friends had better be careful out there, you two; Count Dracula is an extremely powerful being, and many have lost their lives trying to defeat him and his monstrous minions…"
"We will, we promise…" Mikey replied with determination.
"Good…Take care now, and good luck to you all on your quest…!" Sophia said supportively with a little wave.
"Bye-bye, Mikey…! Bye-bye, Raph…!" Mila called out whilst waving goodbye to the duo.
"Bye, Mila…stay safe, and take good care of your momma…" Mikey replied as he gave her a gentle hug, which the young girl greatly accepted whilst minding his wounded shoulder.
"See ya around, kiddo…" Raph said next whilst rubbing her head again before he and Mikey walked away to meet the others in the courtyard.
By the time they reached the meeting place, Raph and Mikey saw that Leo, Donnie, and their three human friends were already there and waiting for them.
"Hey, guys! We're back…!" Mikey called out to let the others know that he and Raph had returned.
"Ah, good. Everyone is here now…" Van Helsing said.
"Was everything alright on your side, you two? You've been gone for a while…" Leo asked in concern.
"Yeah, we're fine, Fearless…! In fact, we were able ta get some stuff together ta tell ya about…!" Raph answered.
"Really? That's great!" Donnie replied in a pleased tone.
"Let's head back to my castle first; you can tell us what you've found out there without anyone overhearing us…" Anna immediately said as she looked around suspiciously for anyone listening in on the group.
The others agreed, and they all made their way back to Anna's castle so that they could discuss what they've found out in private.
/
Valerious Castle…
As soon as they all returned to Anna's castle, the group gathered around on the table in the dining room and started to compare notes; Van Helsing, Carl, and Anna were unable to gather much info due to many of the villagers being too scared to tell them anything about the mysterious castle, and Leo and Donnie also had nothing much to go on either for the same reason.
However, Raph and Mikey were a different story; they told the group about meeting up with Mila and her mother again and that they were kind enough to tell them all about the owner of the mystery castle.
"Are you serious…!?" Leo asked in shock.
"Yep, and it's unknown whether or not Frankenstein's monster is really dead cos the mob all thought that it was gone and that there was no need to do a search…" Mikey added into the story.
"This is very troubling…If Dracula really was involved in that experiment, then he must be up to something more sinister right now…" Anna said in fear.
"True, which is why it is important that we make a start with the investigation on Dr. Frankenstein's castle since there might be some clues leftover that could tell us more about Dracula's plans…" Van Helsing said wisely in agreement.
"Agreed, let's-"
Gurgle, gurgle! Rumble, rumble!
Leo was suddenly interrupted by the sound of someone's stomach growling.
The group looked at each other before they all noticed that Mikey was blushing and had a hand on his stomach.
"Erm, heh, heh…err, excuse me…" The orange-banded turtle sheepishly said in embarrassment whilst avoiding eye contact with the others.
"Gosh! That's the loudest I've heard a stomach rumble in my life…!" Carl said in surprise and shock.
"Dat's Mikey fer ya; his stomach always lets us know when it's hungry…!" Raph said with a teasing smirk before giving Mikey a noogie on the head.
"Now that you mention it, I'm starting to feel a bit peckish myself…" Donnie told the group whilst rubbing his own stomach when he felt its slight emptiness.
"Same here...I think we should all have lunch before we take the next step in our mission…" Anna said in agreement after she too felt hungry.
"Yeah! Oh, and by the way…" Mikey said before he held out the wrapped bread loaf and opened it to show the others as he spoke.
"Mila and her mother, Sophia, made this loaf of milk bread for us!"
"Oh, wow! That's kind of them…!" Leo said happily in surprise when he saw the bread loaf.
"Lovely, we can share it out whilst we have our evening meal later…!" Anna suggested in delight.
"Well, what're we waitin' for? Let's go get some grub!" Raph said impatiently.
The others laughed before they started making preparations for lunch. After all, they needed to gain as much energy and strength as they could for what was to come in the next step of their mission.
/
Late afternoon…
After making the final preparations for their trip out to the castle, including choosing the necessary weapons and first aid supplies, the group walked out of Anna's castle just as the sun was about to the set.
"Ok, the sun is close to setting fully…This is our chance to head for Frankenstein's castle without being seen…" Leo pointed out confidently.
"If I may, I suggest that we all pair up in separate groups during the investigation…" Van Helsing proposed.
"What made you suggest that idea, Van Helsing?" Leo asked in confusion.
"Well, being in small individual groups will reduce the risk of us being more exposed to Dracula's monsters than being together in a large group…" Van Helsing answered wisely.
"He does have a good point. Also, it will allow the other groups to back up the one that's in trouble if they get attacked…" Donnie added in agreement.
Leo took a moment to think about Van Helsing's idea before he nodded and spoke.
"Alright then, we'll travel to the castle in separate groups; Raph and Mikey will go as a pair, the same goes for Donnie and Anna, whilst me, Van-Helsing, and Carl go as a team of three…Is everybody in agreement to this?"
"Yeah, I'm fine with dat…" Raph said with a nod with Mikey nodding with a hum next to him.
"Me too…" Donnie said next.
"No objections here…" Van Helsing said lastly.
"Good…Let's get going!" Leo commanded before he, Van Helsing, and Carl went one way, and the other two teams went the other different paths to start their mission.
