NOVEMBER 24 8 p.m.
Several hours had passed since April had last heard from her friends and with every passing nanosecond, her anxiety grew. Why weren't they communicating? Had they found Raphael? Had something awful happened to them and they were deceased? No. That couldn't be the case. Just couldn't be. Splinter's sons were everything to him and it would kill him if something had happened to them. They had to still be out there, but where and how could she get to them in the abysmal weather?
"Any news, my child?" Splinter asked, suddenly appearing in the lab, where April had been communicating with the others via her radio.
"Nothing for many hours, Sensei, but don't lose hope," April said.
"Nothing whatsoever?" the rat asked dejectedly, his shoulders slumped, making April's heart shatter. She'd never heard him so broken before.
"I'm hopeful. You must stay strong and have faith, Sensei."
"I sense something bad has happened," Splinter said and shivered, as two chills ran down his spine. "Something we have never faced before and which means I am not long for this world. Losing my sons will do that, my child. I love them so much and they're the best things I ever did. I couldn't live without them. My old heart wouldn't cope with the grief."
"Sensei, the boys are probably holed up somewhere waiting for the weather to change and perhaps the radio's battery has died. They'll be in contact when they can. I'm sure. Who knows, maybe they're already on their way back and have Raph. Don't panic. I'm sure they'll come home. Can I get you some tea?"
"No, thanks, my child. I am going to meditate. I hope you're right. Please let me know if you hear anything," Splinter said and left the room, his shoulders slumped.
I think Sensei is right, April thought despondently. Something horrible has happened, but I pray he's wrong and that they'll walk through the door any minute now. They have to. Fuck. Let them. Oh, fuck, let them arrive home, so their dear dad can enjoy his golden years with them.
XXXXX
Mikey woke up in the cabin and yelled, "Guys? Need some help here, please. I'm starving. Leo? Raph? You guys there?"
Silence ensured.
"Guys, come on. This isn't funny. You know I can't get up and walk to you. You guys still sleeping? Wake up. I need you. Hello?" Mikey shouted.
Still no answer.
How weird, Mikey thought. Why aren't they answering? I have to find out why, but I can't freaking move. Got to try.
Mikey hoisted himself off of the bed and landed on the floor with a thud, pain radiating through his body. He grimaced and bravely began the long the crawl to the next room, praying his brothers were just sound asleep. He knew that Raphael was sometimes a deep sleeper.
He eventually reached the lounge, but not seeing his brothers anywhere and spying the open door, through which icy snow was blowing in, the wind bone-numbing, making his aching limbs hurt even more, a shiver ran down his spine. His brothers were gone and had just disappeared into thin air. How? Where could they be? Had something taken them or it was someone? It couldn't be Slash. He was still dead, his body prone on the bedroom floor, so it had to be something else. But what and why? Hadn't his family been through enough already?
Hearing footsteps, Mikey looked up and right into the barrel of a gun.
His blood ran cold. What the fuck now? A gun? Why? All he wanted was to find his brothers and to get back to his dad. He had to find them. His dad couldn't lose more sons. Fuck. This couldn't be happening.
Before he could even open his mouth to speak, the person pointing the gun pressed the trigger.
The bullet hit Mikey dead center in his forehead and he crumpled to the ground, already gone, his blue eyes shut forever. The bullet had penetrated his brain and split open his fibrous and connective tissue membranes that acted as an internal cushion. Then the bullet hit his cerebrospinal fluid, exited his body and rolled onto the floor, landing a few meters away.
Slimy brain matter, a mixture of gray and white, had spilled out onto the floor and onto the man's shoes. Blood splattered the floor, the walls, the man's clothing and some was even on the victim.
The man, a ranger named Robert, didn't even flinch, because he was used to guts and gore. He was the ranger in the cabin and sometimes had to shoot animals to survive. He'd also been on two tours of Afghanistan and had seen so many horrors there, leaving him shell-shocked, then apathetic, numb, desensitized, a walking zombie, who was unable to love or to find pleasure in anything. He'd come back early from his Thanksgiving vacation, because he'd got bored at his family's home and he missed the solitude of his cabin.
His psychologist told him he was making progress, but he thought that was baloney, because he'd been seeing his shrink for ten years and he didn't feel any differently. He guessed that was just shit his psychologist told him, so he'd keep making appointments and spending money. Money that she burned as quickly as she made on exotic holidays, clothing, makeup and other luxuries. Well, he was done with psychologists. Nothing could save him from his demons that made him scream in the middle of the night and wake up in a feverish sweat and nothing could restore his humanity and love for himself or anyone else. He was too far gone in the abyss.
He turned Mikey over with his foot, looked at the gunshot wound in his forehead and thought, a giant Turtle. How cool. It'll last me for a few days.
Robert closed and locked the front door, dismembered Mikey with a chainsaw and placed most of the body parts in the freezer. Never once did he think that the giant Turtle might have a family or other loved ones, who missed him and he didn't question how the Turtle had found his way to his cabin. No. The Turtle had just been an intruder and now he was going to pay the price and be his meals. A fitting end for a lowly Turtle in his opinion and he loved Turtle meat. It was yummier than chicken. Yes. He was so glad he'd come home early.
He placed Mikey's head in a pot of water. Then he went for a quick shower and changed into clean clothing.
Robert returned a while later, turned the gas stove on and added vegetables and herbs to the pot. It would take a couple of hours. His stomach let him know how starved he was by rumbling, as he inhaled the pleasant whiff from the pot. He was famished. This meal would be one of his finest and he couldn't wait to chow down.
He made a small fire in the fireplace, picked up a book he'd been reading before his trip and delved back in. It wasn't the most scintillating book, but it'd pass the time until his meal was ready.
XXXX
Mikey was in Heaven, experiencing a sense of surrealness, as he glanced down and saw what had become of his earthly body. He was dead. Really? It had all been so swift. He hadn't even felt the impact of the bullet. He'd just succumbed and now his vile killer was going to eat him. Leo had been wrong. This was like the movie Alive. First Casey and now him. Fuck. Had the others been eaten too? Where were they? How could he find them if he was dead? Oh, hell, don't let them be dead and have Splinter lose them too. That would be too much for their ancient dad. He'd probably have a coronary and die on the spot.
Tears slid down his cheeks, as he thought about his family. Now he'd never see them again. No more training, no more jokes, bonding trips to the farmhouse, no more missions. He'd never hear his brothers' laughter again. Nothing. Just eternal sadness for those left behind. He wasn't really dead, was he?
It had to be a mistake. Yeah, he'd wake up and they'd all be gathered around the kitchen table, Leo and Raphael arguing as usual and then they'd train. Leo and Raphael would argue more, as Raphael taunted him. Then he, Mikey, and Donnie would try to stop the fight when it escalated. They'd watch movies for the rest of the day and long into the night, dining on pizza out of the takeout boxes and bantering. He and Raphael might even play video games if Leo and Donnie went to meditate and to the lab respectively.
Damn. How he missed his family. He'd give anything just to see them again.
I want my family, Mikey thought wretchedly, more tears streaming down his cheeks. This has to just be a nightmare. It has to be. I need them. Need to hear their laughter and need their hugs.
Mikey," a voice said suddenly, as a figure approached him.
"Donnie?" Mikey said in amazement, as the genius neared him.
"Yep," Donnie said and threw his arms around him, his eyes wet with tears. "Oh, Mikey. I love you, but I'm not glad to see you. It means you've joined me."
"I have? I'm really dead? This isn't a bad dream?"
"No."
"Are Leo and Raph dead? We'd found Slash and Raph, who killed Slash. Then Leo and Raph were talking in the front room. Raph had two broken legs, a broken arm and a fractured shell. Leo was only shot in the one leg, so he could hop around and help us. I was shot in both legs and couldn't move from the bed in the back room. I forced myself to crawl to the front room when I didn't hear them when I woke up. They were gone. How could they have vanished just like that, Donnie? How? They couldn't really get far with their injuries. Do you think they were taken?"
"I don't know. I haven't seen them. I hope not. They're all Dad has now."
"Casey's dead too, Donnie. Slash killed Casey, cooked him and fed him to me and Raph. Oh, Donnie. I don't want to be dead. I want to be back with our family. I want Dad," Mikey sobbed, clinging tighter to Donnie.
"I know. I do too, but there's no chance of that. Dad can't bring us back from the dead. This is our life now, Mikey," Donnie said and rubbed Mikey's shell soothingly.
"I want our family. This can't be it," Mikey said hysterically. "Slash kidnaps Raph, brutalizes him, you die, Casey's killed and now I'm dead. Come on. There has to be a way to get back alive. How much sorrow can a family withstand, Donnie? Why us? What did we deserve to do this?"
"I don't have the answers."
"My sons," a male voice suddenly said.
"Dad?" Mikey and Donnie said in stunned unison, realizing their dad had reached them via the astral plane.
"I am so grateful to talk to you," Splinter said, his eyes shining with joy. "Are you okay, my sons? Will you be home soon with your brothers? I miss you so much."
Donnie and Mikey's hearts clenched and their stomachs tightened in knots, as they wondered how to tell their dad the heartbreaking news that they were no more and that their brothers were missing and were possibly also deceased.
The genius took a deep breath and said, "Dad, there's no easy way to say this, but we have passed on. I have no idea where Leo and Raph are…."
"This can't be true. You're alive," Splinter said plaintively, his eyes filling with tears and then running down his furry cheeks. "Tell me it's not true and this is a prank. Tell me, my sons. I won't be mad. I just want to know you're well and that Leonardo and Raphael are too. Did Raphael tell you to prank me?"
Donnie and Mikey had never seen their dad cry before in all their years. Not even when they'd come home battered from fights and missions. It tore at their hearts and they crumbled, shedding tears of their own.
"Dad," Mikey said brokenly and swallowed the lump in his throat. "This is no joke. Me and Donnie are gone and it's possible Leo and Raph are too. I wish I could tell you otherwise. Take comfort that our deaths were swift and that we didn't suffer. Please don't fall apart, Dad. You have to be strong for April."
But Splinter wasn't listening anymore. His sons were dead. Two of them and probably Leonardo and Raphael as well. His precious sons. Why his family? Why his sons? They'd only ever done good their entire lives. How could he go on without them? No. All of his sons were probably gone, because it was likely that Leonardo had tried to get help, even in the horrendous weather. Maybe Raphael had crawled after him and insisted on going with him or something foolish, leaving Michelangelo alone in the cabin, but to be honest, that didn't make any sense. The brothers would never abandon each other.
No. Something else must have happened and his beloved Leonardo and Raphael must have been killed, their bodies dumped like trash somewhere to rot and maybe animals were gnawing on them at this very moment.
Oh, hell, he couldn't breathe. His damn chest was on fire and he felt like it was going to explode. His heart couldn't handle this sorrow.
His whole family had been wiped out in the blink of an eye. The family he'd always loved and nurtured. Gone. He was all alone. Alone to wander the sewers and to mourn all he'd lost. His world. Everything. Gone.
His sons, his lasting legacy, his proudest achievements had been snuffed out.
"Dad?" Donnie said nervously, watching his dad clawing at his chest and gasping for air.
"Dad, please don't die," Mikey begged, fresh tears raining down his face. "Dad! Shit. Let April find him."
Memories flashed before Splinter's eyes, as he fell onto the floor, the agony in his chest intensifying, as he emitted an anguished wail.
Hatchings, family times, birthdays, training his sons, longs talks and meditation with Leonardo in his private quarters, the rare times Raphael hugged him, Michelangelo's laughter, Donatello's gentleness. Never again would he see his sons, whom he adored so much.
Thinking of his treasured sons hurt immensely, but soon he would be no more. Soon he'd only have eternal oblivion and no more pain and suffering and soon his sons would find their way to him in Heaven.
They would be united and a family again.
He didn't even hear Mikey and Donnie. They seemed to be so far away and spoke as if they were under water.
Splinter knew he'd had a heart attack and that his end was nigh, but he didn't care. Nothing mattered anymore. His sons were gone and all he craved was peace and serenity from his overwhelming heartache.
His heart giving out, he lay down on the floor, gasping for breath.
"I will always love you, my sons. You are the best things I've ever done. Rest in peace. We will soon be together again," Splinter said weakly, as he struggled to breathe.
His body shut down, he gave a final shudder and his eyes slid closed, as he surrendered and succumbed to the eternal darkness.
A/N Is Splinter really dead?
This chapter takes place on November 24 and the previous and later chapters are from November 25 on.
Lots more angst, fluff and love planned and something happens out of left field. Can you guess what it is?